what are these?

[Lunchbucket]

on www.coralsandbar.com underneath the critters section he calls them caped crusaders. what exactly are they? i was thinking they might be some kind of flatworm or something but i had no idea.

so are they bad? good? i have a few in my refugiums.

please help
later
Lunchbucket

 

[MedicineMan1]

Not sure what it is or if it's safe. However, it looks like some kind of algae eating slug of some sort.

 

[Lunchbucket]

i don't think they are flat worms or plenaria. i think they are something else. i email coralsandbar.com and hope to hear from them soon... they move very wierd like. very neat though

later
Lunchbucket

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like a typical flatworm to me. You want some? I have plenty...

 

[69kiss]

I have a ton of these in my refugium, and getting more everyday, I hope they are not bad

 

[mgk65]

Dr Ron identified these as flatworms from a pic I posted in his forum. I have some too.

mgk

 

[MedicineMan1]

After downloading the picture and doing a gamma correction, I'd have to concur on the flatworm ID. I thought the dark stuff behind them was a shell!
Are they bad? I don't know. I have Acoel flatworms-the orangish color kind-and they don't hurt anything, just increase and decrease in population like crazy!

 

[davelin315]

They're parasitic flatworms. I'm not sure what harm they do, although I've heard some can kill clams, but I do know that they can get all over everything and basically infest your tank. One LFS I went to, they have excellent stuff, refused to sell anything out of a tank infested with the same flatworms, even though the corals in it seemed to be doing well.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes they are flatworms, however like most flatworms they are harmless. These ones cause absolutely no damage in aquaria and in fact are beneficial detritivores. They won't harm clams, they eat diatoms and detritus. While related to the more obvious rust or red colored flatworms they are NOT the same species. Even the common planaria are not really all that destructive other than being extremely unsightly.