Please identify this bug!!!

M

maryanno

New member
Can anyone identify this bug? We found it swimming in our tank very very fast so we netted it and put it in a plastic cup. It is about 1/2 inch long and has black eyes. It's body does not look segmented like an ispod, but I'm no expert. Is it some kind of shrimp?

The picture is on the following page:

http://www.cupids-playground.com/reefbug.jpg
 
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Hi. I can't help you. But I can tell you that when I click on your both of your links nothing happens. I don't know for sure if it's you or if it's me, but I think it's you. :)

And I tried with both Firefox and IE.
 
ok, it works now. I still can't help you, I'm even more of a newbie than you are (no tank yet)!! LOL :lol:

You might want to make another thread with the corrected url, because people may think this one has been answered already because of so many replies to it.
 
Beware!

Beware!

It may be a form of a flatworm. It maybe a bad thing as I have never incountered such a critter. I would check all rock and corals to see where it or they may be coming from. Any new additions? Do you have corals in this tank? Fish? Rock? Clams? Look in those places. Some flatworms eat mushrooms, leathers, and many other corals. Look close, because they are good at hiding if not in large numbers. How did it swim? It also could be a form of a slug. I do think that it is a flatworm though.

thanks,

rick


Can you post a pic of the other side of the bug?
 
I have all soft corals in my tank including zoos, mushrooms, xenia, star polyps, pipe organ, candy cane, ricordia and a montipora frag. I recently obtained some new zoos and the montipora frag from the same person. The fish I have are yellow tang, blue tang and clarkii clownfish. The tangs are also fairly new, they do not have anything attached to them. I check every day and night. When the bug swims, it is very fast and seems to wiggle. Also, it seems to attach to the plastic cup near its head for a few seconds at a time. then continues to swim around in circles in the cup.
 
The eyes look like a ciroland isopod. I'm defiantly not an expert but look in this months RK magazine. There is very good article on them. I hope or should I say I know I'm wrong. Look at the pictures in the article and see what you think.
Fred
 
Is this the only one found? Are there more that are free swimming? It could have been a parasite that came out the back end of one of your tangs. I still think flatworm or slug is the way to go so far. I will look into it further and let you know what I find out.

thanks,

rick
 
It doesn' t look like a cirolanid isopod to me....I've had them in my own tank...not fun.

I can't say what it is, maybe a flatworm or possibly some form of snail or pod.

you may want to post this in the invertebrate forum.

Good luck

Vt
 
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This is the only one I found. We did a water change right before lights out. As soon as we turned the lights off, we noticed it swimming around and captured it. I looked for hours for any more and didn't see any more, but I know that doesn't mean anything.
 
It's not a cirolanid isopod. It looks like a flatworm from that pic (I am assuming there's no segmentation & no legs). People freak out needlessly about ridding themselves of everything they can't identify in the tank, and are paranoid about everything being parasitic or harmful, when in reality, the large majority of hitchhikers either have a neutral or beneficial effect.
 
I'm fairly certain it's a planarian (flatworm). You can tell by the eyespots & the bifid gut.

33-10-PlanarianAnatomy-L.gif


The top 2 photos actually add confusion, because it almost appears like there are appendages or legs, though this doesn't have any.
 
Do you know if these are safe for my corals and fishes or should I be looking for more and getting rid of them?
Thanks,
Mary
 
There are some parasitic flatworms, but they are rare and you would see them on your corals (specifically, this is the reason some people will buy "Flatworm Exit".. you can do a search for this, I will not comment since I haven't ever used this or had this issue). Chances are this one is one of the thousands that lives off of detritus instead (there are over 3,000 in the Class Turbellaria, and practically all are free living). They multiply to great numbers in tanks with high nutrients, you can even find some species in FW tanks.

Here's a FAQ on planaria with WWM. If someone else can ID it more specifically, they are welcome to it, I can't.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatwormfaqs.htm
 
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