Mushroom ate my Wrasse?

[Baldguy]

I know that hairy mushrooms can trap and eat fish. I walked into a LFS as they were pulling a half dozen small clowns out of a tank with a big hairy mushroom. Some were barely alive and some dead. An employee had no idea and released the clowns into the town with the mushroom. Of course the clowns were drawn to the mushroom trying to host it. Hard to imagine a wrasse being caught but certainly possible.

 

[Rcfiftyone]

UPDATE:
After studying the rock that the mushrooms were on it appears that the one that trapped the fish was not a mushroom at all! Its looks like a Mojano or some type of anemone. So now I wonder, did it actually attract and "sting" the fish? Seems a little more likely than a mushroom.

 

[Rcfiftyone]

I did notice that white spot on the side too. Figured it was "post mortem" from crabs picking at him. He had no such spot when I put him in.

 

[GHsaltie]

What leads you to think it's an anemone? Looks spitting image of a hairy mushroom to me. I'm in the boat of thinking the wrasse died from some other cause and the mushroom then caught it.

 

[Oldsalt01]

45 years ago I had a Coris that kept disappearing from my tank every night. But he'd be there during the day. Then one evening I watched as he dove head first into the dolomite (ya, that's what we use for bottom material back then). That's where they sleep for protection. Your fish probably died of natural causes and the mushroom was just cleaning up. Sorry you lost him, but I wouldn't blame the mushroom.

 

[MikeAndrews]

Two days ago I picked up little Corris Wrasse from my Lfs. After drip acclimating him I released him in the tank. He swam around happily picking at the rocks until lights off. The following day I saw no sign of him anywhere. I checked all the usual spots like overflows, filter socks, ground etc. Then my 5yo daughter says, "daddy he's sleeping on the rock!" My heart sank as I saw the lifeless body laying on the rock. Upon closer inspection I realized that its head was actually being swallowed by a small green hairy mushroom.

My question is this.... Did the fish die of natural causes and end up drifting into the mushroom? Or, did the mushroom actually manage to capture him while alive. I have to believe the first scenario. I cant imagine this fish getting trapped like that.

Ill include some pics. It wasnt an expensive fish by any means but I dont like loosing any fish.

Scan eating my starry blennie

 

[MikeAndrews]

 

[Cary]

looks like a ball anemone to me as well.

 

[Darth George]

I had a giant Yuma eat a rock flower anemone of mine. So, maybe?

 

[JEREMY82]

Those green hairy mushrooms will eat fish .. and from what I remember they release a toxin that relax the fish so they can eat them.

 

[rstrann]

Applying Occam's razor: most fish die in aquaria from either natural causes, or from husbandry issues. And I've never seen a shroom nor majano eat a fish, not even my hairy shrooms that are a foot in diameter.

 

[saltyhog]

Applying Occam's razor: most fish die in aquaria from either natural causes, or from husbandry issues. And I've never seen a shroom nor majano eat a fish, not even my hairy shrooms that are a foot in diameter.

I agree with Mr. Spock

 

[Bruce Burnett]

By looking at the wrasse it looks to me he died first. I don't drip as the co2 can get to high in the bag or container and cause ph to drop. The Coris looks like bacteria was already consuming it. The bacteria can start consuming it in just a few hours of dying. I would noy worry about the mushroom.

 

[GHsaltie]

looks like a ball anemone to me as well.

What is typically called a ball anemone can refer to either Corynactis sp., aka strawberry anemone, or Pseudocorynactis sp., which is not what the OP has.