Any Ideas What This May Be??

[polydactyl]

i had a aussie symphyllia get stung by a torch coral. the necrotic tissue turned to brown jelly and as it started to sluff its tissue i wanted to try to frag it (those guys aint cheap). thats when i discovered what ever the heck these things are there were 4 total and they were living under the coral tissue. i've tried to do some searching and the closest i can come up with is a parasitic barnacle (Programa/Pyrogama/Pyrgoma sp., i've seen all three genus used so i have no idea which is actually valid). any help would be well, helpful. thanks

 

[thatguy559]

stomatella snail they are harmless
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/SwSnails/Stomatella.php

 

[polydactyl]

i should note that they were stationary and the first pic is how it looked attatched to the skeleton. the second pic is the "foot" that attatched the critter to the skeleton. the red "proboscis" for lack of a better word does move around a bit now that they are sitting in a container of water.

 

[polydactyl]

sorry, these ARE NOT stomatellas. stomatellas do not live under coral tissue. stomatellas also have a shell (albeit a partial), a typical rostrum, and 2 eyes, all of which are easily distinguished with the naked eye. all of which these guys lack.

P.S: stomies are my favorite snail, so i know a stomie when i see it.

 

[thatguy559]

i had the same thing in my tank they were chillen in my torch colony

 

[thatguy559]

well i guess you answered your own question then

 

[polydactyl]

how exactly did i answer my own question?

 

[returnofsid]

Definitely not a Stomatella snail. My guess would be some type of bi-valve hitchhiker. The first picture seems to show an area, that looks very similar to the underside of a clam, where the bysal threads would come from. I see them occasionally, on live rock.

However, your description of living under the coral tissue, doesn't sound at all like any bi-valve. Hmmm....

Any chance of links that you used to get information on the parasitic barnacles?

 

[polydactyl]

i can post all the links in the world. the only problem is not a one contain a pic or even a line drawing of the critter. i am having a heck of a time finding any pics of coral parasites other then copepods/isopods. however, i'm leaning tward the barnacle angle because of the "opening". just google those genus' i posted and there a couple of papers on them, but nothing that really is helpful.

 

[returnofsid]

LOL Just learned really quick that doing a Google Image search for "Programa sp." doesn't work at all!! Warning, results are not child appropriate!!

 

[ashton]

LOL Just learned really quick that doing a Google Image search for "Programa sp." doesn't work at all!! Warning, results are not child appropriate!!

Lol wow you werent kidding about the results from the google image search.

 

[FreakinReefin]

It almost looks like a cocoon of some sort. I think I had one of these growing under a Goniopora a while ago. I always hoped it would turn into a pretty butterfly

 

[cyberdeth]

LOL Just learned really quick that doing a Google Image search for "Programa sp." doesn't work at all!! Warning, results are not child appropriate!!

Ok, now you are suspect! Why would you have the "do not moderate" option on???!

 

[estanoche]

Considering these don't look (or sound) like something you want - I'd recommend doing at least a freshwater dip on your LPS - Maybe you will kill any others you have left.

 

[mfinn]

LOL Just learned really quick that doing a Google Image search for "Programa sp." doesn't work at all!! Warning, results are not child appropriate!!

just how much is 25000 reais?

 

[polydactyl]

well, after looking at the frag of the symphyllia it looks like it has one of the commensal barnacles on it. so now i'm thinking that those little buggers are the same thing. i have never seen one outside of the coral tissue. i thought they bored into the skeletal tissue but maybe they just sit on it and the flesh not the skeleton grows around it. so we'll see, i guess.