Amphipods and... what?

[tkh]

Hey, so I've been watching a paly frag I'd had a bit closer, since they had completely closed up and withdrawn ever since I had a ricordea fall onto it while I was at work. I figured the ric had stung it, so the paly retreated and would come out later. Well, that was a few days ago, and the paly still didn't open up. Tonight after my tank went dark, I found about 5 - 6 of these thiings crawling all over what I assume now is dead paly! What are these things and should I be concerned fot my other coral at all? I think the oranger-colored lump on the left is an amphipod - it looked a lot like the husks you see from their molts floating around. The thing was probably about a centimeter and a half long! What are the grey/white colored bugs? Some had more distinct banding then the small one I caught in the photo. There were a few more of these, some as big as 1 - 2 cm long. They almost reminded me of millipedes, but they had leg/fliper things.

Sorry for the bad pictures - holding a flashlight and taking a picture with an iphone proved challenging while only being able to use one hand...

View attachment 12932View attachment 12933

Thanks!

 

[Herbie]

it's highly likely they're just doing their job. If those guys are eating it it's probably dead or dying on its own (those are my Geiger pods aren't they?) I am surprised that a ric did that to paly. I would have always put my money on a paly in that battle. I have had tons of those pods for a long time and while they definitely give me the heebs I have never seen them bother or harm anything other than each other and det.

 

[tkh]

Hehe, I assumed they were Geigers! I was surprised to see so many, and wanted to be sure, since one was a different color than all the banded ones. These are awesome - far creepier than any Alien too! Love 'em even though they mildly freaked me out when I first saw them. I think I watched them crawl around for about 5 minutes, before leaving them in the dark to dispose of the paly carcass.

I would've guessed the palys could have survived too actually... the ricordea definitely was not phased at all, when I found it laying on top of the paly buds it was wide open enjoying the flow...

Edit: those things can swim at a decent speed too!