unknown hitchhiker (like this one's never been posted=) lol

[happy_valley]

okay im already off to a bad start to the post...i would like to post a picture of this thing but dont have camera=(

well today while i was looking at my new xenia frags (4 of them on a nicely cured piece of rock) and i notice this lil creature. at first i thought it was a lil piece of algae blowing in the current, and then i noticed it slithering like a snake (mind you this thing is the size of needle thread------& about that long!) anyway, it slithered out and up to one of the frags and right back underneath the rock growth it was hiding under.

i was just kind of shocked and amazed, my first hitchhiker! it looks i guess just like a CENTIPEDE and i couldnt tell a 100% but it looked like a dark red or black color.

if you have any ideas about what this could be please let me know and maybe a pic...i've been searching the net all night and found nothing in comparison to this centipede of the sea....didnt see any legs tho so maybe a millipede.

sorry to ramble im just wondering if this is reef safe or something i need to try and get rid of!?!?

oh another thought i have had was, can like a leg of a brittle starfish break off and live on is own..and how small are they when starfish are just born...might be far fetched but you never know.

thnx a lot

happy_valley ;-)

 

[Cheekymonkey]

no picture

 

[Echidna09]

As for your hitchhiker, you aren't likely to have a lot of luck without a picture, borrow a friend's camera if possible.

If a leg of a starfish gets cut of it will not be able to live on its own. The starfish, however, is able to regenerate legs so it will be normal in a few months time. You will start to find small brittle starfish in your tank from the live rock. They stay small though and are great cleaners.

 

[ulthariansamba]

Sounds like a polychaete or bristle worm. They vary greatly but they're generally reef safe and good for clean up.