Need help IDing weird sponge/coral looking blob

[sauncha]

Hi. I noticed this critter this week and finally took a poke at him this morning. He was definitely spongy and something alive. Before poking him I thought he might be some coral skeleton sticking out from some live rock, but he had a bit of purply/black color to him. Plus, he seems to be growing since he's spreading out over the sand. I tried to lift the edges with my tongs and he is definitely growing over the sand. He looks kinds of like a lps, except he's really soft and he's growing under a rock so he gets hardly any light or flow. I'd say he's maybe about 1.5-2 inches right now. Each of the heads are about 1/4 inch and there's a good dozen or more of them. They kind of look like candy cane type heads. The rims of the heads are purple and white striped.

I've had my tank set up for over 6 months and the last piece of live rock to go in was about 4 months ago. I just adjusted the rocks around a month ago. My peppermint shrimps love to walk all over this guy, but probably because he's at the door to their dark cave.

I need help IDing him so I can know if he's good, bad, or neutral. Here are some pics but it was hard to get him to show up since he's in the shade.

 

[Curtswearing]

Can you shine a flashlight into the tank onto it and take another picture?

 

[sauncha]

Here are pics with flashlight. Thanks for the tip!

 

[MarineTeng]

almost looks like a grey/brown acanlord, they can live in low light, do the polyps retract at all?

 

[ichthyoid]

ID help

Hi there. I am new to reef frontiers but have been in the hobby 30+ years. I saw your post and wanted to add my 2 1/2 cents. I would suggest that you also might consider if this is a 'sea squirt', also more properly called a tunicate. They are related to sponges as I remember (phylum porifera). If this is so, it is a very good thing. They are filter feeders, and are happy if they stay alive, not to mention actually grow. Do you have a lot of bugs (aka pods) in your system?

 

[mmkeeper]

Welcome to RF Ich. Every bit of knowledge shared here is helpful.

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers, ichthyoid!