Sand Dweller Id

3mm3 · Dec 20, 2017

Lovemyreef2015 said:
It looks very similar to a Leptocheliidae sensu lato. It's part of the Tabaidacea family. They are collected in the Great Barrier Reef. Below is a picture of one.

That is exactly the same type of creature. @Lovemyreef2015 I have no clue how you came across that. I have spent hours searching through Australian shrimp and pods looking for a match. Excellent find thank you!

Now the question is where to go from here lol. Clearly I have some research to do.

You guys rock!

Oh edit: I actually have another type I will be collecting pictures of and see if we can figure it out too..

KJ · Dec 20, 2017

Great job @Lovemyreef2015

3mm3 · Dec 20, 2017

Okay here we go with a short video. Bit noisy sorry.
Let me know what you think about this guy

sfin52 · Dec 20, 2017

Looks like it’s searching for food

DSC reef · Dec 20, 2017

Very cool looking but the way it burrowed in the sand backwards with that waiting to "pounce" stance makes me question if it's reef safe? Maybe reef safe with caution?

sfin52 · Dec 20, 2017

Pistol shrimps do the same thing.

3mm3 · Dec 20, 2017

Being that this creature has very little known info I will keep updates on its progress in my system.
More pictures and video tomorrow.

sfin52 · Dec 22, 2017

Any updates

3mm3 · Dec 22, 2017

sfin52 said:
Any updates

Ill try to snag some pictures and video tomorrow. Been really sick..

3mm3 · Dec 24, 2017

Been sick and finally tried to get some good pictures or video but I think I caught them at a bad time.
Lights just recently turned on. Not sure if they are more active or not during day but seem to be all just relaxing.

Lovemyreef2015 · Dec 24, 2017

3mm3 said:
Been sick and finally tried to get some good pictures or video but I think I caught them at a bad time.
Lights just recently turned on. Not sure if they are more active or not during day but seem to be all just relaxing.

It seems to be enjoying your tank!

sfin52 · Dec 24, 2017

It’s going around.

3mm3 · Dec 30, 2017

@Lovemyreef2015 , want to take a shot at an id for this guy?

Lovemyreef2015 · Dec 30, 2017

Is there a way to take a picture? I can't see the back end of it. Is it smaller or larger then the Leptocheliidae sensu lato? From the video it looks to be in the same family of Tabaidacea.

3mm3 · Dec 30, 2017

Lovemyreef2015 said:
Is there a way to take a picture? I can't see the back end of it. Is it smaller or larger then the Leptocheliidae sensu lato? From the video it looks to be in the same family of Tabaidacea.

Ill try to capture a picture of the tail. To me they look to have the same tail. The differences that I noticed is different head, claws and color.
Also I have noticed that the two types do not tolerate each other. I watched one tunnel into one of the sensu lato homes and it got lit up.

Edit: After the meeting of the two the intruder escaped back into his tunnel and proceeded to completely seal it off. Quite the thing to witness.

3mm3 · Dec 30, 2017

@Lovemyreef2015 ,

Here we go. I hope this helps. Please ignore noise, dirty glass and that evil aiptasia.

Lovemyreef2015 · Dec 31, 2017

The closest i could come to a match is a Leptochelia. It's part of the same family of Tabaidacea. They eat detritus and look more clear like yours when smaller. There are over 950 subspecies of Tabaidacea and there are alot that the only way you can tell them apart is by looking under a microscope to see differences in their antennas and mouth structure. Here is a picture

3mm3 · Dec 31, 2017

Lovemyreef2015 said:
The closest i could come to a match is a Leptochelia. It's part of the same family of Tabaidacea. They eat detritus and look more clear like yours when smaller. There are over 950 subspecies of Tabaidacea and there are alot that the only way you can tell them apart is by looking under a microscope to see differences in their antennas and mouth structure. Here is a picture

Excellent, thank you!

Here is another video.

Lovemyreef2015 · Dec 31, 2017

You're very welcome. They are really cool and I keep reading that they are a good part of the CUC. I seen that one person had over 200 or so in thier 60g tank and loved them. They never said what subspecies they were. Just that they were Tabaidacea. They looked just like your second one.

3mm3 · Dec 31, 2017

Lovemyreef2015 said:
You're very welcome. They are really cool and I keep reading that they are a good part of the CUC. I seen that one person had over 200 or so in thier 60g tank and loved them. They never said what subspecies they were. Just that they were Tabaidacea. They looked just like your second one.

All the years I have been in the hobby and both of these creatures are completely new to me. I am sure that they came in on the only coral I did not quarantine properly. I did not dip the coral because it has a feather duster living in it and an unknown creature that I have yet attempted to id. Part of the hobby I enjoy is experiencing the unknown and this one coral has given that quite well lol
As for how many I have I would not even know. I am sure I have many hundreds as I can find them everywhere in my redsea 650.

One thing I have noticed is the first one you identified does not like to be spotted and has began building their home in ways you cant get a good visual with. They seem to be very shy.
The second one though does not act the same.