Anyone Know what this is

terrien4t

terrien4t

Member
caught this little guy the other day and he is not alone ive had my tank runnig for a year and ive never seen this before and havent introduced anthing new in a couple months but i did noticed deep in one of my rocks that there was a lot of little thing swimming around like they just hatced.should i be worried or will my manderin goby help take care of these?View attachment 11846
 
that is a common bristle worm. they are a great part of the CUC. i have a bunch and maybe your mandrin will get a taste for them. also sounds like you have pods, which is an essential part of the madrins diet. congrats on have a healthy tank
 
That one actually looks like a fireworm...they're related to bristleworms, but much worse. Try to remove those if they are fireworms.
 
I'm not sure it's either, what are those two black eyeball looking things? I doubt they are eyes, but nether fire worms or bristleworms have those
 
I gig, I don't think it's either. Teeth? What teeth? I almost never remove anything from my system. 99% of what you see are good guys. I did see a blue-eyed black-clawed crab yesterday & broke my beautiful orange monti in 1/2 trying to get it out & they it scooted away. :(
 
Pufferpunk said:
I gig, I don't think it's either. Teeth? What teeth? I almost never remove anything from my system. 99% of what you see are good guys. I did see a blue-eyed black-clawed crab yesterday & broke my beautiful orange monti in 1/2 trying to get it out & they it scooted away. :(
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those googly eyes, first thought was its beak or teeth w.e u wana call it
 
It does appear to have those little black eyes. I've never seen it before. People are usually pretty good around here identifying critters, maybe somebody else knows....?
 
If u dnt want it, my melanarus would love to have it for a snack lol

Its probably a bristle worm or a shrimpie but its Hard to id since its small.. I suggest keeping it in like a tight lock critter keeper to see how it grows out just incase u come across it again in ur tank
 
It is possible that is a larval-stage creature (especially with the big eyes) & that's why we can't ID, because they look so much different as a juvie.
 
Posted this thread to the top critter ID person--a friend of mine from WWM. Here's what she said:


Unfortunately, I can't see enough of the critter to be able to tell exactly what it is. If possible, it would be great to see a shot of it in a bowl, completely under water. In the current photo, the worm/polychaete appears to be in a container with just a surrounding bit of clinging water, which can cause all sorts of visual distortions. What's particularly important to see in detail is the head and at least a couple of "legs". Small differences in both areas can make all the difference when it comes to a basic ID (usually at the family level). Beyond that, it can require a scope to study the various parts - especially the head/mouth -jaws. As an added bonus, there are periods (juvenile and/or reproductive) during which a given polychaete can look completely different than the more familiar, commonly seen/recognized stage.

Offhand, I'm thinking that it's probably something in the order Phyllodocida. Those big, obvious eyes (large to gigantic in size compared to the head) are typical of the family Alciopidae. Species are small, somewhat transparent and do occur in tropical waters, but the family as a whole is described as pelagic, not benthic. I didn't see anything mentioned about where the subject was caught - in the water column or rockwork/substrate, but it would be worth knowing. These worms are carnivorous, apparenly preying on pelagic tunicates and small crustaceans - copepods and the like. Unfortunately, I'm not a polychaete expert. There are many variabilities here and many genera in the order (if I've even got the right one!). Who you need is a Polychaete expert like Leslie Harris who has done an awful lot to help hobbyists online with their various ID's.
In the meantime, here are some examples:
Alciopidae: http://www.naturamediterraneo.com/forum/foto.asp?TOPIC_ID=67735
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7rxueg9K5YY/UDTcYZqAI0I/AAAAAAAAABM/HgbDmUbKHEY/s1600/alciopidae.JPG

Phyllodocid: http://eol.org/pages/463597/overview
Phyllodocid (with pharynx extended): http://www.flickr.com/photos/artour_a/5193379240/

Here's a good site for basic anatomical info:
Phyllodocidae: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/taxinfo/browse/family/phyllodocidae.htm
More info on Alciopidae: http://researchdata.museum.vic.gov.au/polychaetes/Alciopidae/description.htm
 
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