What’s on my Hammer?

[JayM]

And is it something I should remove?

Just noticed it this morning while the lights were still off. The hammer is much fluffier during the day and the black “things” are hidden by the polyps, so it’s possible they’ve been there a while.
They don’t appear to be doing any harm, but I’m curious as to what they might be.

No new additions for the last couple of months.

 

[Dburr1014]

Probably remove.
Could be an algae.
@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[homer1475]

Hard to tell from the pics....

Could be algae, or perhaps a tube worm of some sort that are typically found on hard skeletons of corals.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Could be an algae.
@ISpeakForTheSeas

A brown algae of some variety would be my first thought, though I can't say for sure.

Some possibilities for if it is a brown algae:
-Distromium
-Lobophora
-Microzonia
-Padina
-Zonaria

I'd lean toward Lobophora, but I haven't looked into these enough.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks very much to me like the casing of Vermetid snail and a typical location

 

[Dburr1014]

Looks very much to me like the casing of Vermetid snail and a typical location

Looks nothing like vermetid that I've ever seen.
Kinda swirling up as it grows. It does remind me of a Christmas tree worm pattern.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks nothing like vermetid that I've ever seen.
Kinda swirling up as it grows. It does remind me of a Christmas tree worm pattern.

Just looked on a large screen and certainly has that characteristic of a tree worm

 

[krollins]

What does it feel like. Does it react when touched?

 

[JayM]

Looks nothing like vermetid that I've ever seen.
Kinda swirling up as it grows. It does remind me of a Christmas tree worm pattern.

Christmas Tree Worm would be cool - except that if that's what it is I'll probably end up killing it.

 

[Dburr1014]

Christmas Tree Worm would be cool - except that if that's what it is I'll probably end up killing it.

I don't think that is what it is. It just reminds me of that shape.

 

[krollins]

Chitons?