ID of potential pest hitchikers

[wombat1]

I haven't seen these anywhere before. They're not in the FAQ either. They are the brown things in the middle of the photo. They have hard tubes like a tubeworm, but they look more like little coral polyps. The second photo shows the tubes after they've retracted. Should I just kill them?

 

[Anemone]

The white tubes are throwing me - it makes them look like feather dusters. But if the tubes are soft, I'd bet on hydroids (although my hydroids have tubes that are more brown).

Kevin

 

[liquid]

Hitchhiker FAQ, Rocks and Surfaces, Page #3:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_p ... _rock3.htm

Check the pictures and text out on the above URL to verify what they are, but I think you're looking at probably either a Sabellid (Family Sabellidae) polychaete ( http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/pictur ... sters.html ) or a Serpulid (Family Serpulidae) polychaete ( http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/pictur ... pulid.html ).

hth

Shane

 

[wombat1]

While I'm no expert on polychaetes, I'm very sure these aren't any kind of polychaete. It's hard to tell in the pic but their "crown" looks just like an Aiptasia or tube anemone. If they didn't have hard tubes I would file them away under "some type of cnidarian polyp", but these things really confuse me.

BTW, feel free to move this to the correct forum :wink:

 

[wombat1]

Sorry, I just realized how confusing the pic probably is. There ARE indeed feather dusters on the left side of the pic. On the right side is the base of a gorgonian. In between, in the very center of the pic, are the brown polyp looking things I'm talking about. Their tubes are brown. If you compare the two pics you can see they've retracted.

 

[TomH]

Maybe a hydroid of some sort?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hydrozoanfaqs.htm

 

[liquid]

Does it look like this?

If so, you've got hydroids:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_p ... _rock1.htm

Shane

 

[wombat1]

Sort of like that. Mine seem to spread out more though. What do you do to control them, if anything, Shane? Do yours have a hard tube?