Seeking ID.

[Triggerjay]

Last night, while hunting out a gorilla crab, these guys flocked the flashlight. There are bright blue, and bright red ones. Once in a while one would stop and rest for a second or two on the glass, and I was able to get a better look at them. They look like miniature bristle worms, maybe 1/8" in length, but swim in the water column. After clicking on the video, onced it opens, you can click the blue tab right under the vid to make it full-screen to see better. Thanks in advance!


Jason

 

[returnofsid]

It's about impossible to see what you're referring to in your picture.

 

[theJ]

wow they do look like bristle worms. I have seen some baby ones swimming around when I first setup our tank, but they weren't as active as yours, and they were not blue either!

 

[packer]

Looks like pods to me. Free coral and fish food!

 

[ret25yo]

kinda looks like un-freeze dried plankton...lool

 

[Triggerjay]

It's about impossible to see what you're referring to in your picture.

lol, Its not a picture.... CLICK IT! Its a vid....

Jason

 

[Triggerjay]

Looks like pods to me. Free coral and fish food!

Nah, it doesn't have any of the characteristics of an amphipod, or copepod.. Where is Boomer???? lol..

Jason

 

[Triggerjay]

wow they do look like bristle worms. I have seen some baby ones swimming around when I first setup our tank, but they weren't as active as yours, and they were not blue either!

My thoughts exactly. Most of the small critters I have found over the years are either transparent, or red... Blue is new to me... I'm sure someone will pop in with a positive ID. I have it on the "big three" forums all day, and have yet to get a positive ID. I seem to get all the hard to ID wierd critters. The last one Booomer ID'd for me, he had never seen in a home aquarium.. and I have tons of em... lol

Jason

 

[wgchristman]

I have seen the red ones at times and was under the impression that they were pods. If they're not, I'd be interested to find out what they really are.

 

[packer]

I believe a shrimp like pod. Are the blue ones really blue or clear and light up blue with the flashlight?

 

[Boomer]

Well, they do not swim like any pod or shrimp I have ever seen. My guess is some kind of worm, like a small Epitoke, which is a reproductive phase. The real issue is the guy with the flashlight and the creature, neither will remain stationary long enough :lol: And the question is how come you did not net one out

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=Epitoke&btnG=Search+Images

 

[Triggerjay]

Thats what they are. I found a vid of the free swimming form, and its exactly what I have. I would have netted one, but at the time, that was the least of my worries. I was crab hunting a gorilla crab when I discovered them.. lol..

Thanks once again Boomer!

Jason

 

[returnofsid]

LOL I'm an idiot. Looks much different with movement!!!

 

[Anthony Calfo]

do read Fenner's story on epitokes on WWM or in our reef inverts book... a hoot (he ate them ).

I've been asked to collect them for locals while in the South Pacific. They are a delicacy.

Good call Boomer!

 

[Boomer]

Hi Anthony

 

[Anthony Calfo]

cheers, my friend I am peeking out of my hermitage

Actually out from under a pile of boxes of books/mags to ship. I'm getting old and need a job with less lifting

 

[Boomer]

What you do old buddy is not a job And you have no idea what the word "old" means YET :lol:

 

[Anthony Calfo]

the irony is that I got out of slinging distributor volumes of corals (just a few dollars a piece in multi-hundreds lots) each week because I was getting weary of wielding a few thousand pounds of water in boxes by hand truck each week.... writing and photography seemed like a logical projection. It turns out though that packing hundreds of books/mags loaded with colorful inked pages each day is not lighter work.

 

[Boomer]

It turns out though that packing hundreds of books/mags loaded with colorful inked pages each day is not lighter work.

You are to old for any of that lifiting stuff :lol:... Get some hired help there Anth. A Couple of kids 10 bucks/ hr, with 2 bucks / hr as cash pay and the rest of their pay, 8 bucks/hr, will be a learning experience

 

[Anthony Calfo]

heehee... cant even afford child labor. 2 of 3 hobby publications lose money and the one that profits takes years to break even before making dough.

For me to be able to afford hiring my first employee... I need to license my name, repackage kalkwassrer... put a few grains of Strontium Hex in a bottle of water and call it "coralline magic" and do some other ridiculous things first Not going to happen... so poor and old looks like my destiny (actually... I'm not complaining. The good reef chat and free beers are frequent and flowing )