No idea what this is "living slime"

Reedc200177 · Apr 21, 2022

So I discovered this just now looking at my tank about 2 hrs after lights out. It moves in response to the light in a manner that reminds me of a snails foot or a slug, but it seems to have no head or tail that I can find, and seems stationary.

Also seems to have a few small tentacles around its edge possibly, but I can't get a good look at it to tell for sure. You can sort of see them in the first picture on the part that's vertical on the rock. It's about an inch and a half across. It hasn't really moved from where I first observed it.

I would guess a flatworm of some sort but besides expanding and contracting it doesn't move any, at least not since I've observed it and seems far larger than any I can find.

fishguy242 · Apr 21, 2022

hi , i think polyclad flatworm ?
would siphon out immediately. jmo...

Reedc200177 · Apr 21, 2022

Yeah right after I posted this I found what it was, it's a lot bigger than it appears there too. I tried to get it with a turkey baster but it vanished and I can't get to the part of the tank it's in well. What could it be eating to get so big? Everything is undisturbed that I can tell. Is there any way to lure it out?

fishguy242 · Apr 21, 2022

i'd google removal, from what i have heard ,they break apart trying to remove
and multiply ??
that's where i was thinking siphon out ,with like a 1/2" hose.
would not chase ,just let come out again.
may be able to bait it out ,just not sure.

Reedc200177 · Apr 21, 2022

Seems like they eat clams and snails, but the three snails I have are just fine and the clams that hitchhiked in seem ok too. How could it have grown so large?

fishguy242 · Apr 21, 2022

?? but they get big...

DaJMasta · Apr 22, 2022

Definitely a polyclad flatworm, but the snail eating kind isn't the only type. I had one come in on live rock that was a bit smaller, but which probably ate fan worms - when it eventually died I had very few left and it's taken some time for them to come back.

They're curious animals, surprisingly quick and strong in current, and some can get several inches long. If you look up close how it crawls over things, it sort of looks like it's made of liquid and just flows over things - sand grains will actually send it partly around before it flows over them, for example.

I think that if you can see it out regularly, it may already be getting low on food. I only saw glimpses of mine before its last couple weeks where it was out on the sand and even the glass pretty much every day.