Sponge or something elsr
- Thread starter franx
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Squiggly stuff looks like eggs or mesenterial filaments.
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franx
Community Member
This posted a little faster than I intended... but it’s white, encrusting on rock in a very high flow area, and almost looks like little mushrooms bouncing around in the flow.
ReefLife_Guy
Active Member
its hard to tell, my first thought was cerith snail eggs. But its hard to tell from these pics.
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franx
Community Member
I’d be surprised if it was either. It looks like it’s actually growing over the rock, and it’s nowhere near any corals. Seems quite a large couple spots for eggs of anything that might be in this tank too.
ReefLife_Guy
Active Member
Can you outline the entirety of the “spots”? There isnt much contrast from the rock. It might help with identification to know if youre talking about more than the little white squiggle myself and jojo is seeing
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franx
Community Member
Yes, sorry, it is the two areas with squiggles, and the white encrusting area around them. They actually protrude almost a centimeter from the rock and they’re pretty thick, almost looking like polyps, which makes me think not cerith eggs... although there are ceriths in the tank.
ReefLife_Guy
Active Member
Try to blast with Turkey baster/bulb syringe and see if they dislodge from the rock. If it’s a coral it should pretty well adhered. The eggs will just come off super easily.
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franx
Community Member
It definitely isn’t coming off easily, it’s right in front of a strong powerhead and getting blasted all the time.
Very hard to say from the pics and vid, but based on the description I’d guess colonial tunicates.
I suppose it's possible it could be a sponge, but the growth looks different than any of the sponges I've seen.
I suppose it's possible it could be a sponge, but the growth looks different than any of the sponges I've seen.
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franx
Community Member
The photos I’ve found of colonial tunicates do look more like what this is than anything else I’ve found so far! I’ll keep an eye on these and try to pull them out and maybe get some better photos, but I’ll work with that assumption for now.
Thank you all - I appreciate all the help!
Thank you all - I appreciate all the help!
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franx
Community Member
Well, now I'm not so sure any more. I pulled some out with a pair of tweezers, and it came off in strings, almost like mozzarella cheese. When I dropped it in a cup, it clumped back together like a curly noodle.
That wouldn't be expected from a tunicate, would it?
Also, I'm kind of craving Italian food for some reason...
That wouldn't be expected from a tunicate, would it?
Also, I'm kind of craving Italian food for some reason...
Interesting - and probably not.Well, now I'm not so sure any more. I pulled some out with a pair of tweezers, and it came off in strings, almost like mozzarella cheese. When I dropped it in a cup, it clumped back together like a curly noodle.
That wouldn't be expected from a tunicate, would it?
Also, I'm kind of craving Italian food for some reason...
Would it be possible for you to get some pics of it with a black background? (For example, by moving the cup it’s in onto a black surface?) Since what we’re looking at is whitish, a black background should contrast well with it and help us see it a bit more clearly.
As it is, though, it’s reminding me of a seahare egg mass.
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franx
Community Member
Interesting, that does look more like what I'm seeing than anything else so far, but I'd be shocked if that was it. This is an all dry rock system, and it would be surprising if a sea hare found its way in, let alone managed to do well enough to lay eggs.
Also, the encrusting white base that this was growing on doesn't seem to be consistent with the egg photos I'm finding.
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franx
Community Member
And now I'm thinking the "encrusting base" is a red herring - I tried scraping it away and it seems more like that's just the rock, beneath all the new tank algae/diatoms. My best guess now is that @ReefLife_Guy was right all along, and some busy cerith ate up a patch of algae while laying eggs. Kind of a shame I pulled so many out, if so!
ReefLife_Guy
Active Member
Could still be cerith or something else (if it was true live rock it could be anything really). My ceriths’ always lay theirs on the glass and I don’t think mine ever survive to hatch I always clean all the glass but those spots just in case but I’ve never successfully grown any from eggs that I have known of.
