What is This???

[Connie]

Are they some kind of spider? They look like hermit crabs out of their shells kinda sorta. They have 6 - 8 legs and their abdomen curls under them. I found them in my Elegance Coral today when I dipped it in Bayer. They were lodged in the crevices of its stony base. Sorry for the blurry photos.

 

[RichieT]

They are more than likely copepods. Good for the tank

 

[turnerd4]

I beleive they are gull crabs.

 

[turnerd4]

believe*

 

[Connie]

way too big for pods. The largest one was over 1/2" long.

 

[turnerd4]

They can live between the flesh and skeleton of lps coral. I picked a couple out of my large lobo about a month ago.

 

[Pappy]

Look like vermatid snail.

 

[Connie]

Thanks Turner. I've never heard of them, but will read up on them. My Elegance had stopped PE. I only found two. Are they really bad?

They can live between the flesh and skeleton of lps coral. I picked a couple out of my large lobo about a month ago.

 

[turnerd4]

From what I read and my experience, they are not very bad. Supposedly, for the most part, they just steal the food from the lps coral. I picked them out with tweezers and took a turkey baster to the hole in the lobo that they lived in. Now the lobo looks as healthy as it ever has looked.

 

[aslmx]

Sorry for the thread jump but, Ive dipped sps with bayer but didnt think you could do lps, so you can without problems?

 

[lakeviewink]

Sorry for the thread jump but, Ive dipped sps with bayer but didnt think you could do lps, so you can without problems?

Yes, I dipped a huge Acan echinata with absolutely no bad effect. In fact, it looked better after the dip. Just make sure to rinse well in a bucket of tank water.

 

[Connie]

I triple rinsed mine just to be sure.

 

[lakeviewink]

I triple rinsed mine just to be sure.

Thank you for sharing this. I had, what I now know to be a gall crab, in a Duncan colony. Actually two of them, had bored little holes and were almost impossible to kill. I tried FW, peroxide, iodine, etc. this was before I knew about Bayer. They curl up with that shell casing and it felt like a piece of the Duncan. Finally got them out manually by crushing their shell with pointed tweezers and pulling them out.

Until you posted this I had no idea what kind of creature/ pest it was. Btw, mine were much smaller, like 3mm. Maybe a different species? I guess they like Elegance, lobophyllia, Duncan, and other euphyllia. Great thread!

 

[Connie]

You're very welcome! I'm glad I could help someone else. I still wouldn't know what these things are if it weren't for the nice, knowledgeable friends here at R2R!

 

[aslmx]

Thanks for the info on dipping lps. What mixture ratio do you use when dipping lps?

 

[Connie]

Thanks for the info on dipping lps. What mixture ratio do you use when dipping lps?

I used 15ml for 5 cups of water. It was my first time so I was a little scared. I could have probably made it stronger with no ill effects, but it seemed to do just fine. It killed these gall crabs! lol There were all kinds of tiny critters that came off of it.