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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification 14
Related Articles: Marine Invertebrates,
Quarantine of Corals and Invertebrates,
Feeding Reef Invertebrates,
Lighting Marine Invertebrates,
Water Flow, How Much is Enough,
Related FAQs: Non-Vert IDs 1,
Non-Vert IDs 2, Non-Vert IDs 3,
Non-Vert IDs 4, Non-Vert IDs 5,
Non-Vert IDs 6,
Non-Vert IDs 7, Non-Vert
IDs 8,
Non-Vert IDs 9,
Non-Vert IDs 10, Non-Vert IDs 11,
Non-Vert IDs 12, Non-Vert IDs 13,
Non-Vert IDs 15, Non-Vert IDs 16,
Non-Vert IDs 17, Non-Vert IDs 18,
Non-Vert. ID 19, Non-Vert. ID 20,
Non-Vert. ID 21, Non-Vert. ID 22,
Non-Vert. ID 23, Non-Vert. ID 24,
Non-Vert. ID 25, Non-Vert ID 26,
Non-Vert ID 27, Non-Vert ID 28,
Non-Vert ID 29, Non-Vert ID 30
Non-Vert ID 31, Non-Vert ID 32,
Non-Vert 33, Non-Vert ID 34,
Non-Vert ID 35, Non-Vert ID 36,
Non-Vert ID 37, Non-Vert ID 38,
Non-Vert ID 39, Non-Vert ID 40,
Non-Vert ID 41, Non-Vert ID 42, &
Marine Invertebrates,
Marine Invert.s 2, Marine Invert.s 3,
& FAQs about: Marine Invertebrate
Behavior, Marine Invertebrate
Compatibility, Marine Invertebrate
Selection, Marine Invertebrate
Systems, Feeding Reef Invertebrates,
Marine Invertebrate Disease,
Marine Invertebrate Reproduction, &
LR Life Identification, LR
Hitchhiker ID 1, Anemone
Identification,
Aiptasia Identification, Aiptasia ID
2, Worm Identification,
Tubeworm ID, Polychaete
Identification, Snail Identification,
Marine Crab Identification, Marine
Invert.s 1, Marine Invert.s 2,
Marine Plankton, | 
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Creature ID 3/14/06
Hi,
<Good morning from HI>
I
would really appreciate it if you could identify this curious
creature residing in my (almost) reef tank (one small addition at a
time).
Unfortunately, I cannot give you much information as I
have only seen the creature once for less than a second as it 'swam'
(perhaps wriggled) away from the torchlight at 4am in the morning (I
am this determined to get a good look).
<And no pic?>
For
the last week I have noticed that a 'structure' is being built up
against a chunk of live rock, suspended off the coral sand
substrate.
Each morning this structure has more material added
to it.
<Neat>
The first part of the structure is made with
grains of coral sand, is about 10mm long, appears to be round and
the grains appear to be glued in some way. This structure grew for a
couple of nights to a total length of 20mm. Next, a large snail
shell had been moved (again through the night) across the aquarium
bottom and was held to this structure. Now, the method of adhesion
can be seen. Thin threads of spider like silk hold the large shell
to the structure. The shell is resting on the Coral sand and not
suspended.
The next night (last night) a small snail shell had
been moved into place and held up to the rest of the structure,
suspended off the bottom.
This morning, I decided to try and
spot it. I used a torch to see into the tank and spotted for less
than a second what appeared to be a fish
like creature. It was
about 30mm long and brown in colour. I am sorry, but this is as
good as the description gets. Tonight I intend to set the camera up
on a tripod and in the morning (while it is still dark) take a
'blind' photo and hope the blighter is there at that time.
I
hope that you may have an idea what this is given the vague
information I have provided.
<Do send along the image... cropped
to show the organism, structure at good size>
While on the
subject of night observing, would a red light be a better option to
use for looking into the aquarium in the dark hours?
<Yes>
If not, is there a colour that the creatures are less startled by or
even better, cannot sense?
<Red spectra are best, but blue will
work and look much more "natural">
For your information, my tank
is 90 gallons and still fairly young at 6 months old. I would also
like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your work on
WWM. On many occasions I have been in a state of anxiety worrying
that
what I have in my tank may be bad. The use of this site
has always proved helpful and put me at ease.
My thanks in
advance
Tim
<Don't know what this animal is... likely a
crustacean of some sort... Bob Fenner> | Creature
ID 3/15/06
Hi Bob,
<Tim>
Many thanks for your
speedy reply.
<Welcome>
Attached is a photograph of the
structure that has been built. It starts at the top left of the
picture, goes up and over the top of the rock and then
down
(this bit is made of coral sand).
<I see it>
The next
bit you see is a long thin shell, below this a small snail shell
and then at the bottom, a large snail
shell. The quality of
the photo is insufficient to show resolution of the silk strands
but they can be seen if you know where they are. They are
connected to the large snail shell at the 10'Oclock region and
go up to join the rock just above the small snail shell. As you
can see, the large shell is not completely resting on the sand,
but is held up a small amount by the 'silk'.
I still have
not had a good look at the creature yet or since glimpsed it at
all. Is there any crustacean that use silk as an adhesive?
<Mmm, yes>
To give you a rough idea of scale, the circular
base of that large shell is about the size of an old penny.
If I do manage a picture of the creature, I will send it over to
you.
Regards
Tim
<Look forward to seeing it/this...
Again, likely a crustacean of some sort... second mega-guess, a
worm... Bob Fenner> | 
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What is this? 3/10/06
Good afternoon Bob,
Thanks for
such a wonderful website, packed with so much information. I
have
attached a photo of something I just found climbing on my aquarium
glass, could you please identify this for me and is it harmful or
poisonous?
Thanks
Catscot
<Mmm, looks to be a gastropod of
some sort (the appearance of the foot here), but could be a polypoid
animal of some sort. I would leave it be, enjoy it. Bob Fenner> | 
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Invert ID/Barnacle? 03/9/06
Greetings! <Hello
Orlando>
I'll start off by saying that I've learned a lot from your
site and am still learning something new each day. <Keep reading my
friend.> You guys are awesomeous!!! I've had my tank set up for over a
year now and new critters still pop out of
my rocks now and then.
The latest one I can't identify anywhere I search and still cannot
photograph it clearly enough to send. I added an extra pump for
circulation and aimed it towards some rocks, when suddenly out of a tiny
hole in a rock (this particular rock was added about 3 weeks ago) I see
what is similar to the stalks/leaves on carrots but black instead of
green. They seemed to be retracting in a little then folding into a
mouth in the center, as if filter-feeding. I added some food (reef
chili) into the current and it went nuts grabbing as much of the
particles as possible and shoving them into its mouth. What is this?
Does it ring a bell? The arms don't look like the feathers on the
featherworms nor do they look like tentacles. Right now it is about half
an inch in diameter when fanned out and each branch is so thin that the
camera barely captures it. On video it's easier to see. <Sounds like a
type of barnacle to me. Pics would help. James (Salty Dog)>
Orlando
Invert ID - 03/05/06
Here are the pics I was able to
get, Thanks for your assistance. My regards to Bob, John
<Bob
is out on a well earned vacation. James again. John, the pics
dictate a type of cucumber or slug, I'd probably lean toward a
cuke. Bob may know exactly what it is. Hopefully he will insert
something here. James (Salty Dog)>
-- "FAQ Crew"
<crew@mail.wetwebmedia.com> wrote:
Thank you for contacting
us at WetWebMedia.com
Your reply is below
Invert ID
Anyone have any information on an Invertebrate "Crytoplax
<Cryptoplax> larvaeformis" I believe I found one in my tank last
night. I found a close illustration in Julian Sprung's Invert book.
It is about the size of your little finger 2" - 2 1/2" long, 1/2" in
Diameter. It has a leathery type skin and a row of what looks like
plates or points along the top length and a white cartilage looking
thing running the Length of the underside. It resembles a garden
slug. I will try to post photo's. <Do send photo and we me be able
to identify.>
Thanks <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
John Janda
<<? They are/were attached... some 4 plus megs worth.
Is this not uncommon Chiton. Bob Fenner>> |  
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Tiny Transparent Jelly-Like Creature On Live Rock! 2/24/06
Wait... he's not on the rock anymore, now he is on one of my blue
hermits!
Good morning. I am upgrading my 10 gallon to a 29
gallon and just purchased 26 pounds of Marshall Island live rock. There
are many
wonderful things living on the rock, but one thing in
particular really has me perplexed.
At first I thought that it
was just some sort of hairs or antennae protruding from the rock. Upon
closer inspection, though, I noticed
that there are two long
(approximately 5-6 inches long) hairs that resemble 2 single feathers
which wiggle about and take in floating
materials from the
water. As material hits one of the "feathers", the material is moved
extremely quickly down to the "body". At first
glance, the "body"
looks like dead transparent sponge, or some jelly-like substance on the
rock. (Mind you, the rock is not completely
cured so the blob is
difficult to distinguish from the many dead "blobs" on the rock.) The
strange thing, though, is that this thing actually
moves in the
tank. He is normally seen perched on the exact same spot throughout the
day, but yesterday he had disappeared from his happy spot
in a well
lit area and I found him on one of my nearby crabs! The thing didn't
seem to enjoy the ride on the crab's back for too long because
about
a half hour later the thing was back in his favorite spot. Do you
have any idea at all what this thing might be?
<Mmm, could be a
few things... A ctenophore, crinoid, hydrozoan, polychaete...>
I
have drawn a picture since it is too difficult to get a clear picture of
it. He is just less than a half-inch long in "body" but the "feathers"
are nearly
6 inches long each and retract, move rapidly (not just
due to water flow) and the "feathers" also move food in the same manner
as a starfish
moves food towards its mouth, only much much
quicker. The "body" sometimes appears to be triangular in shape like a
tiny Hershey's kiss,
but at other times the "body" is just a
blob. The "feathers" also appear to be retractable. Could it be
harmful or possess stinging capabilities?
<Possibly... but will
likely "cycle out" of its own accord... Short answer/primary mentat
projection: I would leave it>
I would really rather not touch it to
find out!
Thank you so much for your help!
Carrie
<What a
planet eh? I'm not leaving! Bob Fenner> | 
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Re: Tiny Transparent Jelly-Like Creature On Live Rock! 2/24/06
Thank you so much, Bob!!! I searched the web for the terms of possible
creatures that you thought the mysterious blob might be and found that
it has to be a purse jelly (Coeloplana)!
<Ahh! A ctenophore after
all... What's that saying? "Stick with your first guess">
Absolutely
amazing! Thank you again for your expertise! You're "The Man"! (Just
don't let it go to your head...)
Carrie
<Heeee! Too much about
to keep me humble... forever! BobF> |
Little
Bug-Like Creatures - 02/22/06
Hi,
<<Hello>>
I have a
tank that has been running for about 6 months, and has LR, various
polyps, corals, a pistol shrimp, 4 fish, hermit crabs, snails, 2
conches, and a serpent starfish. I just converted my wet/dry into a
refugium with live sand, some live rock, and some mangrove seedlings (I
think they are seedlings). A few weeks ago at night I began noticing a
few of these little translucent creatures spinning around and swimming
all over the water. They have a few legs, with the front (or it could
be back) 2 legs curved outward. It's almost impossible to get a photo
because they are moving very fast. Tonight when I looked there were
literally a few hundred of these creatures at the top of the water.
Are these creatures a problem?
<<Unlikely>>
I have read about
copepods etc, and did a little research but these look at least to be
different than anything I have seen in photos. The weird thing is that
they mainly stay at the top of the water. Should I be alarmed about
this?
<<I wouldn't be.>>
Are they bugs? Larvae of some kind?
<<Likely a "pod", small crustacean of some kind brought in even
"hatched" from your live rock. Many possibilities...and very likely
harmless, if not beneficial.>>
Any advice on this would be
appreciated.
Thanks again!
Dave Sheehan
<<Regards, EricR>>
Identify these
pics of marine life from my tank! 2/22/06
Hi!
This is Sam from India. I wanted you to please try and identify
these pictures of marine life which i clicked from my aquarium. Most
of the life
is collected from my local areas. Common names,
Latin names or even something close to will be fine, as i can then
refer to their special care for long life!
The main stuff to id
is the anemone fish and the anemones.
waiting for reply, thanks.
regards Sam
<... These are all ID'd on WWM... with the exception
of the "Red Anemone" (don't know what this is... the Carpet is a
Haddoni... and the Tube Anemone... a Cerianthus... not kept
together, hard to keep individually... the Clowns are Clarkii's...
See WWM re Identification by group, then their Systems... all
posted. Bob Fenner> |   |   |
Microscopic Tubes? Polychaete ID, Likely Spirorbids - 02/13/2006
I was wondering if you could help me identify what is growing in my
tank.
<I'll try.>
Especially my canister filter. I've looked all
around the site but obviously in the wrong places. About a month ago I
noticed a few tiny white calcareous looking growths attached to the
basket inside my canister filter. Now the inside is COVERED and they're
starting to appear on the inside of the tank itself, on the powerheads
and glass. Looking closely they look to be tiny spiraling tubes. What
are these things?
<Most definitely a tube dwelling polychaete worm,
I'd bet spirorbids.>
Do I have a problem on my hands?
<Hmm...I
don't know, but your tank is fine;)>
Thanks for any help.
<Sure. - Josh>
Small, White, Spiral Growths - 02/06/2006
Hi I have new saltwater aquarium, been running about 2 months.
Everything is looking great and doing well. I have noticed some white
coral looking organisms that are showing up on the glass. They're half
moon shaped, kinda spirally about 1/16th on an inch diameter, any help
with identifying these and make sure they're ok.
<Well Ryan, based
on your description, I'm pretty sure these are spirorbids. Totally
harmless Polychaete worms.>
Thank You, Ryan
<Gladly. - Josh>
Strange Growth ID 2/6/06
Sorry about the previous attempt
at email. I have a Mac with I Photo and apparently the two
machines can't talk to each other in Mac language.
<I know the
feeling.>
I'll try this the old way. It still shows up as a
photo rather than as a standard attachment. If it doesn't work
sorry I wasted your time.
<It came across fine.>
Was hoping
you could identify these guys that recently popped up and are
growing fast on the underside of a brain coral skeleton. They
are quite cool looking but seem to be spreading....a
problem? They are pink and shaped like staghorn but translucent and
don't seem to be rigid.
<It looks to me like they're a bit of
flesh from the coral that somehow survived. LPS Corals are
well-known for this.>
Sorry about the blenny.....he's become
quite the camera ham.....can't take a picture of anything without
him getting in the frame.
<Hah... I originally assumed that your
Critter ID was for the Blenny.>
Thanks for your time.
<You're very welcome.>
Janie
<Best of luck! Mike G> |
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