What is on my glass?

[RRaider]

I have lots of pods showing up in my DT since my fish are all in the hospital tank. One of the things I'm seeing I haven't been able to identify yet. They look like almost microscopic star fish. You can barely see them. They attach to the glass and have 6 or 7 "arms" which extend in every direction. Very small and don't seem to move much. Too small to take a picture of.

 

[RRaider]

I should probably clarify that they look like little round dots and the "arms" are like hairs, more like a bristle star than a regular star fish.

 

[turtle]

could be little jellyfish I had them briefly look in the new to hobby section at melevs hitchhiker ids i think they were in there under pods

 

[fareforce]

If it is what I think it is here ya go:

<hr>
From melevsreef.com

Photo by Brad Benefield


This little guy is in the Jellyfish family - Cladonema jellyfish. Brad mentions: "It is extremely tiny, maybe 1 or 2 mm across, and stuck to my glass (aquarium wall)." I won't go as far as to say it is Reef-safe, but it is interesting none-the-less.

From this page: "These are small jellyfish that can swim, but which also fasten to the substrate. Unlike the Staurocladia mentioned above, they don't crawl much. Not much is known about their biology. In aquaria they probably feed on small copepods and particulate material in the water. They may be distinguished from Staurocladia by more developed globular bell, their slightly larger size, and the shape of the tentacles."

 

[plateboy3293]

Could be micro stars. Here's a pic. http://www.liveaquatix.com/pb/wp_3c536080/images/img70644685c323f0b08.jpg

If you have these their create clean up crew and food source.

 

[plateboy3293]