ID Please

[AquaThorn]

Hitchhiker

Can anyone tell me what this is please - This appear on a piece or Live Rock I bought last week - I saw it this morning for the first time. It moves slowly from place to place and dissapeared under the rock after about 15 minutes.

View attachment 33574

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[returnofsid]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

It's very hard to see and might help if you could post a larger picture, but I do see what appears to be aiptasia on the rock. This is a nuisance anemone that can reproduce very fast and will sting corals, so best killed. Though, what your describing, as moving slowly from place to place, doesn't really fit the description of Aiptasia.

 

[AquaThorn]

Hitchhiker

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

It's very hard to see and might help if you could post a larger picture, but I do see what appears to be aiptasia on the rock. This is a nuisance anemone that can reproduce very fast and will sting corals, so best killed. Though, what your describing, as moving slowly from place to place, doesn't really fit the description of Aiptasia.

Thanks for the welcome and the reply

The attached is the whole original picture and it's in the middle of the frame. I've also tried to enlarge the cropped image.

It is only about half an inch long and moved from where you see it on the rock down underneath in about 5 minutes

Do you think that to play safe I should try and get rid of it anyway ?

 

[returnofsid]

Okay, from the enlarged picture, it appears to maybe be a Majano anemone. Also a pest. Also, Majanos are capable of moving, and often do. Both Aiptasia and Majanos can be killed by injecting a thick Kalk paste into them. Google both words, and do an image search. See if the images match what you have. As long as it's where you can reach it, I wouldn't kill it until you've got a positive ID. Sometimes, you can get some pretty cool hitchhiker corals. Unfortunately, that's not normally the case.

 

[AquaThorn]

Okay, from the enlarged picture, it appears to maybe be a Majano anemone. Also a pest. Also, Majanos are capable of moving, and often do. Both Aiptasia and Majanos can be killed by injecting a thick Kalk paste into them. Google both words, and do an image search. See if the images match what you have. As long as it's where you can reach it, I wouldn't kill it until you've got a positive ID. Sometimes, you can get some pretty cool hitchhiker corals. Unfortunately, that's not normally the case.

Hi

Had a quick scan on the Internet and the nearest I can get is the creature on the left that looks like it's eating the Green thing in the attached photo - I will see if I can catch sight of it when I get home (I'm at work at the moment - it's 2:30 pm here) - and get a better photo of it.

 

[Myteemouse]

that, my friend is a nidi branch
They eat zooanthids and the likes...
KILL IT..
Also if you have any zoos or palys I would do a LUGOS dip...
and check for eggs on the stalks
They look like tiny little white spirals...
You have to scrape them off with a blade or something sharp..

Welcome to RF and good luck!

 

[ajnweb]

I will second the nudibranch, and it does look like the zoanthind eating variety

 

[returnofsid]

Ahhh, now I look at your second picture again, and YES, there's a Nudi. Definitely kill it!!! Suck it out, don't kill it in the tank. Also, search for what Nudi eggs strands look like, online, and look for any of those. The eggs can be removed with a toothbrush, OUT of your tank!!

Particularly, look at Tritoniopsis elegans Nudibranch. They're known to eat Lobo. leathers and are thought to eat just about all soft corals.

 

[AquaThorn]

Did the dirty deed last night - used a pair of sugar tongs to remove it from the rock - then gave the rock a good brushing. Had a good look around and I can't see anything that looks like a string of eggs so I don't think it was in the tank long enough to lay eggs.

Thanks for all your help guys, I now know what to do if another one appears.

I have a Fire Shrimp and and couple of Hermit Crabs - I thought that they would eat this sort of pest ?

 

[Scalare102079]

that nudi in the pic is actually a beneficial nudi... but too late! He eats aiptasia and majanos... and that is pretty much it. Aeolidiella stephanieae

 

[returnofsid]

Scalare, there is actually no such thing as a beneficial nudibranch. All nudibranchs are carnivorous. The Berghia Nudibranch is the one that is known to eat Aiptasia and it isn't a true nudibranch, but is a slug, Berghia verrucicornis. A. sephanieae is a nudibranch that, while it will eat aiptasia and majanos, will also eat any other anemone in your tank. Not very beneficial...lol.

 

[Scalare102079]

we can agree to disagree. Most Berghia found in the US are not Berghia, they are A. sephanieae. You can utilize their appetites for your advantage. I would never recommend placing them in a reef tank, I would remove problem rock and place into a smaller vessel, allowing them to do the work. same with utilizing butterfly fish. Same with flatworm eating nudis as well, Chelidonura varians.

 

[Boomer]

Well, I agree on it is a nuke but we need a better pic, as there is no way it can be ID from that pic.

There seems to be some confusion here on Aeolidiella stephanieae vs Berghia verrucicornis

1. Berghia verrucicornis is a true nudibanch and is in the Familay-
Aeolidiidae.

2. Aeolidiella stephanieae is also a true nudibranch and is in the Family-
Aeolidiidae.

3. The pic posted from the net is Berghia verrucicornis and not Aeolidiella stephanieae, which is pretty obvious. Berghia verrucicornis has orange-yellow-purple tips on the Cerata ( long sausage looking structures), which serve as gills and often contain the nematocysts, stinging or venomous cells, taken from when they eat Cnidarians, i.e , Corals, Hydroids, anemones, etc.)

4. It is the Aeolidiella stephanieae that is know to eat Aiptasia but has been falsely sold, from wrong ID, in the hobby as Berghia verrucicornis

5. As far as being reef safe you are on your own.



This is a Berghia verrucicornis

This is a Aeolidiella stephanieae