Saw something spooky....

[thefurrywarrior]

Last night I was spotlighting in my tank observing my coral growth and noticed something very odd. I couldnt get a picture of it but it was grey with some kind of pattern on the back. Looked kind of like a very thin slug or something. Coloration kind of reminded me of a lawnmower blenny but it was so thin it was somewhat transparent. What I saw of it was aprox 3 inches or so at least. What could it be?

 

[SushiGirl]

Maybe a stomatella snail.

 

[thefurrywarrior]

I have a couple of those in there and unless it was a monster one. that wasnt it.

 

[SushiGirl]

Sorry, best guess I could make with no pic!

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Flatworm, (polyclad?) perhaps the type that eats snails and clams.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Flatworm, (polyclad?) perhaps the type that eats snails and clams.

That would be my guess as well.

Similar to this?

If so, you'll want to remove it when you spot it again.

 

[flyyyguy]

this is what most polyclads found in the hobby look like, and from your description most likely what you saw


I dont even keep snails or clams anymore. I have had these things for years and they must be surviving on molluscs in the rocks and stomatellas and colonistas. I cant even begin to count how many I have found.

 

[thefurrywarrior]

That would explain how I lost my 2 turbos about 5 astreas and around 10 nassarius/cerith snails......thanks for the info I will look out for him

 

[thefurrywarrior]

flyyyguy, I have the same goby as in your avatar. He is about 6-7 inches long! I love him just wish he would come out more :/ .

 

[flyyyguy]

ya...he was great.

dont have him anymore. Had to give him away a few years ago when I got rid of the last tank with sand

Lift your rock off your sand and he cant hide so much

 

[thefurrywarrior]

Ok saw this guy again tonight and have a definite confirmation that this critter is the polyclad pictured above. I tried to get him but he slithered away and into a hole in the live rock....would stabbing it be a good idea or would he split if I cut him....any ideas on killing him or getting rid of him will help! Thanks!

 

[flyyyguy]

these things are the most crazy cool contortionists you will ever see. Even a 4-5" specimen can pour itself down a tiny hole you would never imagine possible.

If you catch it and want to see soemthing cool......put it in a bowl of tankwater and spin the water. lol

If you rip it it into pieces when trying to catch it any remaining pieces will live on.

They are fairly easy to catch with a turkey baster with a wide end or similar if you can get to them in time. Other than that you really need to just see them go into a rock, and remove the entire rock and either blow them out with a high velocity powerhead if possible or rip the rock apart. IF you are lucky enough to catch them wandering the glass late at night you can actually catch it with your bare hand.

 

[ed4]

As crazy as it sounds, I was able to syphon these out with a small-diameter silicone air hose. I first started using a 1/4" hose but I found that I was able to use more precision when manuvering an air hose. It works very well off glass, decently-well off (but not in) rocks and off the sandbed. The 4, 5 or 6 I caught ranged from 2-3".

The ones that were in my tank only came out at night, and when spotted by a flashlight, these flatworms would start making it's escape. I was able find about 1 every 3 to 6 months. Although I believe there are no more of these things in my tank, I'm never too sure. I haven't seen any fresh stomatella shells in the past 7 or so months...

These things move like smoke and gets sucked up like smoke. Try to be thorogh in getting the whole flatworm or all the pieces. If there's any possible fragments left behind, these pieces may regenerate into new individuals.

 

[thefurrywarrior]

Well I am going to try sucking it into my siphon hose. That way there is no chance of a fragment of it getting away...thanks for the help you got my brain reeling...and I did see him contort into a small hole in my rock....it was um...disturbing to say the least. But I have lost a lot of snails lately and I have a ton of baby snails in my tank at the moment so I need to get him out.

 

[thefurrywarrior]

Also starting to wonder if I can stomach this anymore lol while looking for the polyclad, I just saw a 10 inch-ish bristle worm sticking itself up in the air for some reason...I about gagged lol

 

[flyyyguy]

. I haven't seen any fresh stomatella shells in the past 7 or so months...

ya......should have mentioned that...........tell tale sign of having them are the empty stomatella shells, and the empty other snail shells that dont stink when you first find them

These things move like smoke .

they are fricken cool, they really are

here is the first, and by far the largest I ever found. Thats a 9" pie plate he is in. all the rest have been 1-3".

 

[thefurrywarrior]

Wow that is HUGE! after getting a good look at the one tonight I would estimate that he was about 3-4 inches in length...nowhere near that size.