Help me identify?

[MammothWombat]

Hello,

Yesterday I noticed these things, marked up in the image, in my tank. I tried poking them and they close up and retreat to the hole in the live rock. Can someone identify them? and tell me whether I need to do something about them?

N.B. I always dip my corals in Seachum dip, and I don't have any feather dusters in my tank.

Thanks,

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hard to tell from the pic for me.

Possibly a type of clove. Goggle “clove polyps coral” and compare the pics to what you have. You may have to scroll for a bit, as firework cloves are popular right now. You can change the search up for “blue clove polyp” also.

 

[RedFrog211]

Hard to tell from the pic- is this them fully extended, or partially closed?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Looks like maybe a clove polyp to me as well.

 

[Doh Boy]

Maybe a little palythoa or even a ball anemone.

 

[MammothWombat]

Hard to tell from the pic- is this them fully extended, or partially closed?

I will try to take anther picture. They are partially closed, but they don't open up flat, they will still have a parabola's shape to them.

 

[RedFrog211]

Yeah I was thinking the front one could be a ball nem. Good luck, sometimes it’s really hard to get a focused pic!

 

[homer1475]

Any rock flower anemones in the tank?

Almost looks like a baby rock flower to me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ball nem which is safe and what looks like alveopora

 

[MammothWombat]

Any rock flower anemones in the tank?

Almost looks like a baby rock flower to me.

No.

 

[MammothWombat]

I was able to get a better shot of it. The top part opens and closes, and the bottom part wiggles like a worm.

Note: This is the first time seeing it on the glass. I always see them in the rocks.

@vetteguy53081 @Eagle_Steve @RedFrog211 @homer1475 @Sharkbait19 @Doh Boy

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was able to get a better shot of it. The top part opens and closes, and the bottom part wiggles like a worm.

Note: This is the first time seeing it on the glass. I always see them in the rocks.

@vetteguy53081 @Eagle_Steve @RedFrog211 @homer1475 @Sharkbait19 @Doh Boy

Hydroid for sure. They grab suspended food and favor brine shrimp. Direct water flow towards them, not at them and they will starve

 

[king aiptasia]

Hydroid for sure. They grab suspended food and favor brine shrimp. Direct water flow towards them, not at them and they will starve

this is a regular feather duster, not a hydroid

 

[lafarrow]

this is a regular feather duster, not a hydroid

how can you tell the difference?

 

[vetteguy53081]

this is a regular feather duster, not a hydroid

Its not a regular feather duster but a tube worm which uses the fan to capture food also called a feather duster worm but not true hawaiian duster.
I was between two emails and replied to someone with a hydroid on snail.

 

[vetteguy53081]

how can you tell the difference?

A polychaete feather duster worms is that they build the tubes that protect their soft bodies from detritus they filter from the water. They also have the ability to reproduce asexually through fragmentation.

One way to tell is : If you approach or touch a feather duster, they retract immediately whereas the hydroid wont

 

[MammothWombat]

A polychaete feather duster worms is that they build the tubes that protect their soft bodies from detritus they filter from the water. They also have the ability to reproduce asexually through fragmentation.

One way to tell is : If you approach or touch a feather duster, they retract immediately whereas the hydroid wont

I am confused, so is it a type of feather duster? Tube worm? It retract immediately when I try to pry them out of the rock. Is it harmful?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am confused, so is it a type of feather duster? Tube worm? It retract immediately when I try to pry them out of the rock. Is it harmful?

prying out removes them totally. Did you try to approach or touch it to see if it retracts? You can say its a type of duster and harmless.

 

[king aiptasia]

Its not a regular feather duster but a tube worm which uses the fan to capture food also called a feather duster worm but not true hawaiian duster.
I was between two emails and replied to someone with a hydroid on snail.

Sabellidae is a better term I should have used.

how can you tell the difference?

All Sabellid worms have comb shaped tentacles to filter the water for particles, hydroids have microscopic stinging cells and mucous to capture food particles and therefore have no need for comb like ridges on the tentacle its self, hydroid tentacles being they are a type of polyp resemble those of corals and anemones. also sabellid worms have tubes that often appear like parchment, sometimes muddy or gritty, for common Thecate hydroids tubes are made differently and look different.

A polychaete feather duster worms is that they build the tubes that protect their soft bodies from detritus they filter from the water. They also have the ability to reproduce asexually through fragmentation.

One way to tell is : If you approach or touch a feather duster, they retract immediately whereas the hydroid wont

Thecate hydroids often retract into tubes made from their tissue. Athecate hydroids don't have a fleshy theca and shrink back more like other soft polyps.

you are right hydroids tend not to retract when you move around them without touching them

 

[king aiptasia]

prying out removes them totally. Did you try to approach or touch it to see if it retracts? You can say its a type of duster and harmless.

it is harmless leave it