what the hell are those little things ?

[Anonymous]

hello,

looking at the micro-reef i just saw those tiny things on the glass. they are about 1 m/m big. there is about 70 of them and i have no clue about what they could be.

any idea? also it is right on full moon ...


Toine

 

[Anonymous]

Antoine,
I have had the same things and apparently they are a common hitchhiker. It is the polyp stage of a cnidarian of some kind--that much is certain. They sort of peter out after a few months.

 

[Anonymous]

I smashed one on my pillow the other night. Apparently it climbed up two flights of steps and I think it was trying to get into my mouth. It had grown significantly in size and I think it was growling, too.

Don't worry about it, though, you'll prolly be okay.

 

[Anonymous]

:wink:

 

[Anonymous]

:wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Those things transmit distress messages from captive marine life here on Earth to a satellite in low orbit, where the messages are relayed to to the planet Aquos. The highly advanced Aquosians have been receiving these messages for decades, and have sent a fleet of near-light speed battlecraft to rescue all captive fish, inverts, and corals, restore all ocean life to its former health and diversity, and grind up the human race for use in frozen cubed fishfoods.

 

[Anonymous]

Those things transmit distress messages from captive marine life here on Earth to a satellite in low orbit, where the messages are relayed to to the planet Aquos. The highly advanced Aquosians have been receiving these messages for decades, and have sent a fleet of near-light speed battlecraft to rescue all captive fish, inverts, and corals, restore all ocean life to its former health and diversity, and grind up the human race for use in frozen cubed fishfoods.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

good one Clare! almost there, 44 more posts to go, don't give up :wink:


antoine

dp

 

[Anonymous]

Antoine,
I have had the same things and apparently they are a common hitchhiker. It is the polyp stage of a cnidarian of some kind--that much is certain. They sort of peter out after a few months.

Seriously, I always thought those were a type of the dreaded hydroid (dreaded by seahorse keepers, anyway). But seastars? I can get behind that.

 

[K9coral]

Antoine, how do you get your dog to smile like that???

 

[spsmike]

I had some of those too.So anyone know?

 

[Anonymous]

Antoine,
I have had the same things and apparently they are a common hitchhiker. It is the polyp stage of a cnidarian of some kind--that much is certain. They sort of peter out after a few months.

Seriously, I always thought those were a type of the dreaded hydroid (dreaded by seahorse keepers, anyway). But seastars? I can get behind that.

They are definitely NOT seastars. They could be a hydroid, I don't know. They also could be juvenile jellyfish. IME, I've never seen them after about 3 months or so.

 

[Anonymous]

Antoine, how do you get your dog to smile like that???

it is just a plain ol' French dog :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Antoine,
I have had the same things and apparently they are a common hitchhiker. It is the polyp stage of a cnidarian of some kind--that much is certain. They sort of peter out after a few months.

Seriously, I always thought those were a type of the dreaded hydroid (dreaded by seahorse keepers, anyway). But seastars? I can get behind that.

They are definitely NOT seastars. They could be a hydroid, I don't know. They also could be juvenile jellyfish. IME, I've never seen them after about 3 months or so.

Matt and Clare,

here is what i found:

Info on hydroids from Dr. Ron.

http://www.rshimek.com/odd_critters.htm

The animals are between one and two millimeters in diameter. These are organisms which are turning out to be relatively common. They are crawling hydroid jellyfishes, which do not swim, but rather move around the tank sort of like a small, soft, slow spider. They move by fastening on to the substrate with their adhesive patches. The tentacles are tipped with concentrations of nematocysts. There is a red eyespot at the base of each tentacle. These organisms become quite abundant in some reef systems, and then rapidly disappear without a trace.

A Japanese researcher, Dr. Yayoi Hirano, provided the following information:

"They are crawling hydromedusae, in the species Staurocladia oahuensis. There are about 15 species of this genus known in the world. All of them have branched tentacles, and can adhere to substrata, such as algae, by the tentacles, with the surface with eyespots facing upward. The tip of the lower branches are used for adhesion, and the upper branches have a few or more (depending on species) nematocyst clusters. Arrangement of the nematocyst clusters is a key to identify species. They reproduce asexually either by budding or fission, so under favorable conditions they often can become abundant in aquariums. This species has been found in a fish farm and also in a abalone aquaculture center in Japan. It seems the species has a high rate of asexual reproduction under favorable conditions. Even one jellyfish accidentally introduced in an aquarium may increase in a population of hundreds within a few months if the conditions are really good. It is also very possible that the polyp stage of the species lives on corals or rocks which may be brought into the aquaria. The polyps may form a dense colony if it is provided with much food. Within a short time the number of polyps may be very large, and the polyps may produce many jellyfish. The jellyfish and polyps will eat Artemia nauplii and copepods.

antoine

dp

 

[Anonymous]

they look like snowflakes to me. but i don't have my glasses on. in fact, how did i get up here?

 

[spsmike]

Seems like the answer to everything needing an id these days is pod/hydroids.

 

[K9coral]

Do you have an electron microscope so we can get a clearer picture?

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have an electron microscope so we can get a clearer picture?

nope, sorry.

will try to give it an other try tomorrow if not too busy :wink:


antoine

dp

 

[K9coral]

lol, j/k about the electron microscope!

 

[iphy]

Hrm.

I've seen them identified as "Staurocladia oahuensis (hydroid jellyfish)" here: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=57778, suggested as probable hydroids here:
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=49209, scuffled over their jellyfish-ness here: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=38158, and named "walking jellyfish" as well as another vote for Staurocladia Oahuensis here: http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=25466. I also found a link to a page on Ron Shimek's web page, http://www.rshimek.com/odd_critters.htm saying to scroll to the part which says "dots with legs" to find out that these are Staurocladia oahuensis; but that page does not seem to be working well for me.

 

[Anonymous]

If this is true...

"They are crawling hydromedusae, in the species Staurocladia oahuensis. There are about 15 species of this genus known in the world. All of them have branched tentacles, and can adhere to substrata, such as algae, by the tentacles, with the surface with eyespots facing upward. The tip of the lower branches are used for adhesion, and the upper branches have a few or more (depending on species) nematocyst clusters. Arrangement of the nematocyst clusters is a key to identify species. They reproduce asexually either by budding or fission, so under favorable conditions they often can become abundant in aquariums. This species has been found in a fish farm and also in a abalone aquaculture center in Japan. It seems the species has a high rate of asexual reproduction under favorable conditions. Even one jellyfish accidentally introduced in an aquarium may increase in a population of hundreds within a few months if the conditions are really good. It is also very possible that the polyp stage of the species lives on corals or rocks which may be brought into the aquaria. The polyps may form a dense colony if it is provided with much food. Within a short time the number of polyps may be very large, and the polyps may produce many jellyfish. The jellyfish and polyps will eat Artemia nauplii and copepods.

...then the animal photographed by Antoine (which looks very similar to what I have in my aquarium) is not Staurocladia, at least not in the life stage described. First, they don't have branched tentacles. Second, they don't appear to move at all. Third, they aren't attached to the glass by their tentacles as described. They have a very obvious foot, like a polyp. Fourth, a lot of juvenile cnidarians look the same in fuzzy photographs! It doesn't really matter, one way or the other, but I think trying to get a species (or even genus) level ID on this animal is a fool's errand.