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FAQs on the Hydrozoan Identification 5 Related Articles:
Hydrozoans,
Cnidarians,
Fire Corals, Stylasterines,
Hydrozoan Jellies,
Related FAQs: Hydrozoan ID 1,
Hydrozoan ID 2,
Hydrozoan ID 3, Hydrozoan ID 4,
&
Hydrozoans 1,
Hydrozoans 2,
Hydrozoan Behavior,
Hydrozoan Compatibility, Hydrozoan Selection,
Hydrozoan Systems,
Hydrozoan Feeding, Hydrozoan Disease,
Hydrozoan Reproduction, Medusoids/Jellies
(Ctenophores, some Hydrozoans, Scyphozoans): Jelly Identification,
Jelly Behavior, Jelly
Compatibility, Jelly Selection,
Jelly Systems, Jelly
Feeding, Jelly Disease,
Jelly Reproduction,
Fire Corals, Lace
Corals,
Stinging-celled
Animals
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Brown Plant Growth 11/27/08
I have a 300 Gal reef, established over one year, lightly stocked. (3)
400 Watt 10K MH, all parameters look good. This brown plant growth on
the rock comes and goes in cycles every two weeks or so. About 1/2 inch
growth, with fine thin leafy tops. I brought a sample to the LFS, they
could not find any critter who would eat it.
Thanks, Steve
<Hmm... I could be wrong, but these look like hydroids to me.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm
Best,
Sara M.>
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Deep Water Coral Identification 11/16/08
Hi There. I was
wondering if you guys would have any insight to what kind of coral this might
be? I was fishing off of the Florida Keys where I live. We were fishing a large
hump that comes up from 1300 ft. to about 600 ft.. On top of this hump we
snagged this big coral on our line, which we thought was a fish at one point.
when we got if to the surface It was something I have never seen before. I work
for a company down here which supplies Caribbean life to zoo's and aquariums all
over the world, and it has stumped everyone.
<I do think it must be a
hydrocoral of some kind. A close-up pic of the polyps would make it easier to ID
with more certainty. I would also be careful not to be breaking the law here. If
it's a protected species, it might get you into trouble taking it home... but
I'm sure, with your job, you know about all that. :-)>
Any suggestions on
whit it is and maybe the best way to try and keep it alive?
<If it is indeed
a Hydrocoral from 600ft then it likely doesn't need much, if any, light. It will
need quality feeding... they are not too difficult to care for if they were
healthy when you get them (which this one appears to be).
Best,
Sara M.>
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Hydroid, ID, control... 11/14/08
Hello all!
<Mariusz>
I was hoping you could give me an ID (ie. scientific/common name)
on this Hydroid. It was taken from: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm
(i have also attached the same pic). I have a bunch of these in 120 tank with
about 140lbs of live rock.
<Mmmm... can't tell the species from this small
pic>
I recently took all fish out of the tank to let run fallow after a
parasitic infest. Most corals have been removed (for other reasons). All that is
left are a few mushrooms and leathers, peppermint shrimp, hermits.
The tank
has been running fallow for 6 weeks now and I'm in no rush to put my livestock
back in. Also for 6 weeks I haven't put any food in the tank either, it's just
been running with Deltec skimmer (which hasn't produced much as I have almost no
livestock and no feeding).
So questions:
1) are these hydroids a danger to
fish? not sure how potent the sting is.
<Could be... if they're unaware, get
too much exposure>
2) How can I rid these with out manual removal as I've
been trying for almost a year. Not sure if these guys are worms of some sort and
if de-wormer will work, possibly Prazi or other. Is there any biological
alternative? Without proper ID its been difficult moving forward towards a
solution.
Thanks
<Can be very difficult... frustrating up to the point,
extreme, of making it reasonable to bleach/kill all LR, start over with some new
LR material placed over, amongst, using the killed rock as base... Otherwise,
you might be lucky to discover a predator (perhaps an Opistobranch...), but even
here, they wouldn't eliminate all... "So many chickens, so many foxes"...
Bob Fenner, who would bleach, nuke>
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Re: hydroid
11/15/08
I've attached 2 pics of these hydroids
(pulled out of the aquarium and place them on paper). Is it possible to
identify them now? Are they some type of worm?
<Mmm, much more likely
tube snails... though could be Sedentariate Polychaete worms... You can
tell if/when they're "open" underwater>
Will Prazi or some type of
anthelminthic work? Any suggestions besides nuking my system?
Thanks
once more
<Mmm, I'd ignore them... not deleterious... you could
likely get a crustacean that would predate these... I would not use
chemical controls.
http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/0897/0897_8.html
Bob
Fenner>
re: hydroid... snails
11/15/08
Thanks for the link. However, the link describes a
mucus string/web produced by these worms but there is no mention of
sting. I've had mushrooms die and retract if they are touched by these
strands.
<Surprising...>
Would these strands have some type of
sting?
<Not as far as I've ever run into>
The link describes
animals larger than the pics I sent. Animals in my system have diameters
of 1mm or less. So I take it they are not hydroids?
<Not hydrozoans,
Cnidarians... are Mollusks, Gastropods. B>
re: hydroid 11/15/08
I'm in complete agreement with you after further surfing...just have to
figure out why the mushroom died and why any softy kinda retracts when
the mucus strands are out. Perhaps its something else I haven't noticed.
I'll be keeping a close eye. Thanks for all the help!
<Certainly
welcome! BobF>
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Re: Question about hermit crab
growths 10/6/08
Thanks for the reply. I got a somewhat
better picture of it, still not GREAT but hopefully helps you out a
little more than the last one.
Grant
<Ahh, thank you for this
pic... do look "Polypoid"... am more sure these are indeed
Hydroids/Hydropolyps... There are many "kinds" as you will see... as
long as these don't spread to your hardscape, I would count your Hermit
lucky to have such a built in defense. Cheers, BobF>
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Purple Feather Weed? Could Be Feather Hydroids! 9/13/08
Hi Guys and Gals,
<Hi there, Andrew>
While snorkeling today (thank
God it’s warm enough to get in the water again!) I came upon this
fascinating (to me anyway) feather-like organism.
<it’s neat
looking, that’s for sure.>
I couldn't help but lift a small piece off
the rock for an experiment in my 20Gal.
<Were you wearing gloves at
the time?>
Tank is currently about 2 months old, cycled with 6Kg
semi-cured live rock, and live sand. Ammonia, Nitrite @ 0, and Nitrate
is at about 10 at the moment,
<Just keep an eye on the nitrates,
don’t let them get above 20ppm.>
temp steady at 26 Deg C, and
salinity is 1.022
<Salinity’s a little on the low end, but okay.>
Stocking is 1 bicolour Dottyback, 2 tiny blue/green chromis, 1 even
smaller yellow coral goby, 3 small hermits, and about 8 snails. All very
happy in their current home.
<Good>
Which brings me to my actual
question.... What the heck is it!?
<I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but
those sure look like feather hydroids to me (Family: Plumulariidae). If
so, they’re not the best addition to a system, to say the least. Also,
after going in for a close-up, that red macro-algae on the right side of
the rock looks very similar to a variety that can be invasive and very
difficult to control.>
I found it in full sun at a depth of about 9'
(growing on a football sized tunicate)
<Wow!>
..in a bed of sand
held together with fine hair algae. It came away in a nice clump about
2" across. It now graces the front of a lightly stocked tank. Each
"feather" is separate from the next, and grows just like a real bird
feather would,
<Yep>
looking side on, you can see a single "tap"
root about the length of the feather itself.
<That long “tap” root
along with the unusual color is what’s keeping me from being absolutely
sure those are hydroids.>
I'm pretty sure in between the main subject
of the pic is some juvenile Dictyota,
<It looks like a Rhodophyta/red
algae of some sort, but I can’t see it well enough to narrow it down
further. Dictyota is a brown algae (Phaeophyte) that’s usually green,
yellow/brown, or even blue. I’ve never seen red. It could be something
like Scinaia.>
..but cannot find any reference to the feather like
growth (which I find most attractive),
<I find it very attractive as
well. By the way, I couldn’t find any similar looking macro-algae in
that color either - and I was hoping I would!>
..but am a little
cautious of!
<Good call! Hydroids can sting the living daylights out
of you. Please see the information and species “Gymnangium” half-way
down this link (as well as associated links at the top):
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hydrozoans.htm
Here’s a good close-up of
a feather hydroid. Note the similar, almost bumpy/broken appearance of
the “branches”. Those bumps are actually individual feeding polyps that
have little stinging tentacles surrounding them:
http://www.poppe-images.com/images/image_info.php?picid=929540 .>
If
you could help identify it, I would be most appreciative.
<Well, I’m
pretty sure those are hydroids, but I’m hoping Bob will confirm or
deny.>
I make an effort to Identify everything I can myself,
<Good
for you! Not only do you get the satisfaction of solving a mystery, you
also learn quite a bit along the way.>
..but find it difficult to
locate images on your site unless I know the name of the organism I am
looking for.
<See below>
Is there an image library somewhere
grouped in broad categories like fish, algae inverts etc. that I am yet
to find on your site??
<Not a specific image library as yet, no, but
it’s been discussed. In the meantime, Bob has the site
organized/sectioned off into topics that include many terrific articles
with photos of representative species in the most commonly seen genera.
Usually that will give you enough information to help narrow things down
a bit. Here’s the main page for marine topics:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm . Just pick a subject, start
with the articles for an overview (with photos) and go from there.>
I
would love to help myself in future where possible.
<I’d try the
above and/or use our Google search engine:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm >
Thanks for your time. All the best.
Andrew.
<You’re very welcome,
Andrew. Take care, -Lynn>
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Hydroid. RMF |
Is this Ich? - 07/13/08
Hi crew -
<Hello Joel.>
Along with all of your other truly valuable services, I am very fond of
your ability to educate me by identifying various biological life forms.
<I’ll give it a try.>
I have a silver-tipped pulsing xenia that has been in QT for 21 days as
of tomorrow
<Very good quarantine practice.>
, is pulsing quite happily, and I plan to move to the main display
tomorrow as well. However, I don't know if these guys are tomonts or
just some white filter feeder.
<The latter.>
These images are all at 10x magnification, and image 2553.JPG shows what
they look like under normal viewing conditions. Any idea what they are?
<Hydromedusae, also called hydroid jellyfish. See
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/jellyidfaqs.htm.>
I hope not tomonts.
<Nope. Tomonts are even smaller. They are 300-500 micrometers and look
totally different.>
Thanks, Joel.
<Cheers, Marco.>
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Sponge ID... uhh, worse 7/6/08
Hi Bob and Crew,
Can you help us identify this thing (we think it's a form of a sponge)
growing from under our Goniopora. All of our parameters have been good,
we just noticed this one night when the Goniopora had gone in. Picture
is at:
http://photo.evasionoftruth.com/g1/aquarium/IMG_0849cropped Its directly
in the center growing from under the frag disc. We are wondering if we
should remove it, it appears to be a filter feeder as it does not
retract when we touch it.
<... is a Hydrozoan... and is stinging the bejeesus out of the
Poritid... needs to be removed, scrubbed clean (with vacuuming if done
underwater) entirely. Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoancompfaq.htm>
Keep up the great work on the site, we use it daily to find out things
about having a reef tank.
Thanks,
Buster
<Thank you for sharing Buster. Bob Fenner>
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Help identifying 2 pics? 06/21/08
Dear wet web media,
I have searched way too many hours on these things growing in our
saltwater aquarium (120 gal). It's been established for a couple years
now, but I am noticing these things multiplying recently. I've attached
a pic of some of them. They seem to be mostly at the bottom of the tank
on the glass. Their tentacles seem to move.
<The pics are really too blurry to make much out... but from your
description below, I'd say they're likely harmless Spirorbis worms.>
In the second pic I have many tubes of different shapes. They seem to be
growing larger. Some are long & skinny, where this one is kind of boot
shaped with an obvious hole in it.
<They look like sponges to me.>
One thing I notice is white specs all over the glass at times. If you
look really close they look kind of spiral shaped. I sort of think it
looks like a snail (and I have hundreds of different sized baby snails
that just keep showing up). Cold they be reproducing?
<Could be... are these things stationary or mobile?>
Thank you for your help.
Kristie
<De nada,
Sara M.>
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Re: help identifying 2 pics?
6/22/08
Just to clarify, I have two things I am trying to identify. One is
the specks that show up on the tank glass, that develop into spirals.
I'm just
curious about these. Was wondering if they were snails reproducing.
<possibly...>
The one I am most concerned with is the tentacle like things that are
multiplying on the glass near the bottom of the tank. Please let me
attach
one more pic that is a little more close up. Maybe you can identify it
better. These don't seem to move at all, although the tentacles or arms
(like hairs) seem to be alive & moving (not just with a current). They
worry me that I should be getting rid of them. I probably have 20-30 of
them that have developed in the last month or two.
<Ah, now I can see them... looks like Hydroids.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hydrozoanfaqs.htm>
Thank you for your time.
Kristie
<Best,
Sara M.> |
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Ohh, Hydrozoans. B |
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Identification – likely Hydroids –
05/27/08
First off, thank you
all for being so kind as to help identify a coral I have asked about
before, and now have a larger image of so you can get a better look at
the rooting/matting system of it.
<Please send earlier correspondence along when mailing follow-up
questions.>
I have been told that this is anything from Hydroids to Clove Polyps,
none of which I believe it is.
<Add me to the ones saying Hydroids.>
It grows really well.
<Hydroids do so, especially nasty ones.>
I took the first clump out in November, and here it is again creeping
onto the rocks.
<People have left the hobby because of these things.>
It does not sting, and it doesn't suffocate anything that I can tell...
<Can possibly hurt and eventually kill corals.>
I really like it, but I don't want to harm anything, so if someone could
please help to properly ID this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
<Likely hydroids of the family Tubulariidae, possibly even genus
Tubularia (compare to internet and literature pictures) or related.
Should not touch sensitive corals, may become a pest or simply vanish
someday within a short time. Cheers, Marco.>
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Gorgeous pic. RMF |
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