A whole bunch of critters

[DaveR11]

I bought a piece of live rock with some green star polyps and a single purple mushroom on it and got the following.....

Asterina starfish in the centre plus nudibranch bottom centre (see video...)?



Elysia? nudibranch?

Bristle worm?



Any ideas?



Flatworm?



I have also seen 2 type of crustacean (too quick to photograph but a dark looking amphipod type and a shrimp type) and a tiny snail.

 

[sirrealism]

Ok on the flat worm yes it is. Do you have any wrasses? If so they will prob take it out. I cant help on the nudi as I dont know the differences between good one or bad. The starfish? I am not a fan of these but most are not an issue. The bristle worm is considered by most as a good part of a clean up crew. Most everyone has them. Super nice rock and your photo skills are very good. The last one is a hydroid which is a good thing. Not sure of the type but I think all are good.

 

[frisbee]

The fourth picture might be a Foraminiferan.

http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

+1 ^

 

[DaveR11]

Ok on the flat worm yes it is. Do you have any wrasses? If so they will prob take it out. I cant help on the nudi as I dont know the differences between good one or bad. The starfish? I am not a fan of these but most are not an issue. The bristle worm is considered by most as a good part of a clean up crew. Most everyone has them. Super nice rock and your photo skills are very good. The last one is a hydroid which is a good thing. Not sure of the type but I think all are good.

Cheers Sirrealism. I have only just cycled so no wrasse and I don't have one on my fish list. The flatworms always seem to be on the mushroom but the coral seems happy enough.

 

[Oxylebius]

Asterina star, some people like them as some eat film algae, others people think they are a nuisance. I suggest watching it to make sure it is one that eats algae.

That is a slug not a nudibranch. It is so very small. At this point watch it and watch it closely. Watch it like a hawk. I'm serious. At first glance it looks like it might be a lettuce slug, which would be a great addition. But, you want to make sure it is not eating any coral.

Agree with Sirrealism, Bristle worm. keeper. Good cuc.

Agree with frisbee, Foraminiferan. Great ID there.

Agree with Sirrealism, flatworm. Look into this one. They can cause lots of issues and multiply fast. Some fish can take them out, like wrasses.

 

[DaveR11]

Asterina star, some people like them as some eat film algae, others people think they are a nuisance. I suggest watching it to make sure it is one that eats algae.

That is a slug not a nudibranch. It is so very small. At this point watch it and watch it closely. Watch it like a hawk. I'm serious. At first glance it looks like it might be a lettuce slug, which would be a great addition. But, you want to make sure it is not eating any coral.

Agree with Sirrealism, Bristle worm. keeper. Good cuc.

Agree with frisbee, Foraminiferan. Great ID there.

Agree with Sirrealism, flatworm. Look into this one. They can cause lots of issues and multiply fast. Some fish can take them out, like wrasses.

Thanks Oxy,

So far I have only seen the Asterina stars on the rock with the green star polyps on it. They seem to sit around on the rock so maybe the algae eating species....?

The slug was well up the back wall of the tank this morning and seems much larger (unless I have more than one....) I could see trails where the green algae had been rasped off which were smaller than the trails my Trochus are leaving but can't be sure it is the slug. The only corals I have so far are the GSP, one purple mushroom and a small rock with some Zoanthids on it. I will keep a close eye! Hopefully it is the lettuce slug as it looks pretty cool especially with its strange movement pattern.

I only see the flatworms on the mushroom polyp so far, but the mushroom seems to be fine. I had not got a wrasse on my fish list but I will take a look at the reef safe ones.

I've got a good view of an amphipod last night but still not seen the small shrimps well - they are both too quick for a photo.

As ever many thanks!

 

[Oxylebius]

Sea slug article offsite, here. It is a dated article from 11 yrs ago, but much of the info is still relevant. The difference is that now a days some more advanced aquarists are able to keep more of the the lettuce sea slug species alive in their tanks.

 

[DaveR11]

Sea slug article offsite, here. It is a dated article from 11 yrs ago, but much of the info is still relevant. The difference is that now a days some more advanced aquarists are able to keep more of the the lettuce sea slug species alive in their tanks.

Thanks Oxy, it has been well over 20 years since I did any reading on marine species taxonomy. I had a good look at some of the many Elysia species but none of the photographs seemed quite right and I don't really know what features to look at. Give me birds, moths or hoverflies any day! It would be really good to know what my little slug eats but without working out which species that seems difficult. I remember back when I was a student catching Elysia viridis on field trip on the Welsh coast.

I've seen the slug again today under the rock it came in on. I have never seen it showing any interest in the 3 corals I have and seems to favour areas where there is algae. The green film algae has really taken hold on the rocks, glass and sand. I have cleaned the front of the aquarium 3 times today and it is green again now. There is filamentous algae developing - the live rock has a short (1mm) 'lawn' developing in places and there is longer stuff on some of the rocks. I also have tufts of what may be Bryopsis popping up in places. I guess we will just have to see if the slug manages to survive and grow. It would make it easier to identify then if it was a little bigger. I will ask the LFS how long they had the rock it came in on but then again the rock with the GSP was in a big shallow coral frag tank so the slug could have come from anywhere.

Anyway it is great fun playing detective and once again thank you for your help - you are a goldmine of information!

 

[Oxylebius]

More vids of that little slug would be great to see. I may also be a very small sea hare and not a slug. Sea hares are also a great cuc. Here is the list of sea hares to go through. Remember since it so small not all the characteristics may show up until it grows a little bigger.

If you would like to do more research I suggest you peruse the Sea Slug Forum. It is a great place for you to get started. The Sea Slug Forum has info on nudibranchs, bubble-shells, sea hares and other sea slugs. It is great place to try to ID nudis and slugs, etc. Here are a few links to get you started, here, here, here, and here.

 

[DaveR11]

More vids of that little slug would be great to see. I may also be a very small sea hare and not a slug. Sea hares are also a great cuc. Here is the list of sea hares to go through. Remember since it so small not all the characteristics may show up until it grows a little bigger.

If you would like to do more research I suggest you peruse the Sea Slug Forum. It is a great place for you to get started. The Sea Slug Forum has info on nudibranchs, bubble-shells, sea hares and other sea slugs. It is great place to try to ID nudis and slugs, etc. Here are a few links to get you started, here, here, here, and here.

Hi Oxy,

Many thanks for the links. It does feel more like an Elysid than one of the sea hares. I had a look at sea slug anatomy and I can only see one pair of appendages on the head (rhinophores?) whereas the sea hares seem to have 2 pairs (1 set of rhinophores, 1 set of oral tentacles). It is so small though at present they just might be too small to see or not formed yet. I've seen it again tonight on the rock with the GSP but not been able to get any decent video. I will keep trying. Thank you once again for all the help.

 

[DaveR11]

More vids of that little slug would be great to see. I may also be a very small sea hare and not a slug. Sea hares are also a great cuc. Here is the list of sea hares to go through. Remember since it so small not all the characteristics may show up until it grows a little bigger.

If you would like to do more research I suggest you peruse the Sea Slug Forum. It is a great place for you to get started. The Sea Slug Forum has info on nudibranchs, bubble-shells, sea hares and other sea slugs. It is great place to try to ID nudis and slugs, etc. Here are a few links to get you started, here, here, here, and here.

Hi Oxy,

I was just heading off to bed when I took one more look at the tank and spotted the slug coming up off the sand onto the rock with the GSP on it. So back on went the main lights and I grabbed the camera. I got this footage...

Whilst I was filming I spotted another seemingly identical slug on my Palythoa plug so I have at least 2 of the little things. I reckon the one I filmed is at most 10mm long and the other one a little smaller. I didn't notice until I watch the video on the computer but there are tiny white worms on the rock too. Are these likely to be nematodes?

Anyway still not got any real idea what the slug is but I will keep looking at the links you sent me as (hopefully) my tiny slugs get bigger!

Many thanks,

Dave

 

[Nascar99]

The tree thing is good I forget the name but they're not bad

 

[Oxylebius]

Great vids of these tiny guys. Looks like it was munching away at the algae. Since you haven't seen it eating corals, there isn't a need to get rid of them.

 

[DaveR11]

The slug saga continues. Not sure if this is the same species just a little more grown up or something completely new.... Excuse the 2nd picture - glass distortion.

 

[Oxylebius]

Just catching up on this thread. How's the little algae eating slugs doing?
That little tiny one in the vids you are posing looks like an Elysia to me.
There are many green types of Elysia.
Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae
You can go through the long list of Elysia's on here: http://www.seaslugforum.net/specieslist.htm
Scroll down until you get to the title:
SUPERFAMILY ELYSIOIDEA and under that FAMILY Elysiidae.

Hey DaveR11, the pics you posted above, that is a different species that you posted - It has cerata.
Is that one also in your tank????

 

[DaveR11]

Just catching up on this thread. How's the little algae eating slugs doing?
That little tiny one in the vids you are posing looks like an Elysia to me.
There are many green types of Elysia.
Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae
You can go through the long list of Elysia's on here: http://www.seaslugforum.net/specieslist.htm
Scroll down until you get to the title:
SUPERFAMILY ELYSIOIDEA and under that FAMILY Elysiidae.

Hey DaveR11, the pics you posted above, that is a different species that you posted - It has cerata.
Is that one also in your tank????

Hi Oxy,

I went through the Elysiidae family and using the pictures I reckon my slugs look like E. gordonae, E. trisinuata or E. verrucosa. I'm afraid I've not seen either of the little green slugs in about a month. I do spend quite a lot of time rock watching but no luck with the slugs....

As to the other species - yes it is in the tank. I spotted it on the front glass and then again the day picture was posted (29th June) but I haven't seen that one since either....

Today I spotted something in the coarse sponge the main return pump sits in and it turned out to be another (smaller) Stomatella snail to that went straight into the DT.

I also have a strange white gelatinous looking growth (a sponge?) on zoanthid rock I should post on here....

Many thanks,

Dave

 

[Oxylebius]

Is this slugs rhinopores smooth or rough? I think I've narrowed it down, but need to know the answer to this question.

BTW, any chance you know where in he world your live rock came from, would help narrow down the search on hitchhikers.

And yes, post the white gelatinous growth on here as well. Could be sponge, tunicate, or something else.

 

[DaveR11]

Is this slugs rhinopores smooth or rough? I think I've narrowed it down, but need to know the answer to this question.

The rhinopores are not terribly sharp in all the photos I have. They do look knobbly rather than smooth. I'm attaching another photo but it is not terribly clear, the side shots were not taken square on to the glass as it was near an edge and there was quite a small depth of field.



Here is the white growth:



I'm also seeing a lot of these little tubes turning up in the tank. There is one on the snail shell bottom left. I thought they might be Vermetid snail but I don't see any mucous nets.....

As ever thanks for your help Oxy - you are a star. I just can't stop rock watching. It is better than TV. Not that I have TV at the moment as since I moved into the new house I haven't got around to getting someone in to run cable from the aerial on the roof to the lounge where the TV is....

 

[Oxylebius]

Okay, I believe you have a slug from the Limapontiidae family. These sea slugs resemble nudibranchs of the Tergipedidae family (Aeolidina), but are not closely related to them. Most of the species from the Limapontiidae family are green because of the green they eat and live on.

My reasoning behind this:

Limapontiidae(s) are generally small; less than 20 mm crawling length. They usually have a slender, tapering body which may be concealed by a profusion of cerata, (your slugs body is tapering anteriorly). The anterior edge of the foot is rounded, or rarely, tentacular (your slug has this). Rhinophores long and fusiform, reduced, or absent. Rhinophores sometimes have a lateral groove at their base. (Your slug has modified rhinophores, horizontal flaps or lamellae). The cerata are fusiform, and variable in size and shape - from long and slender to short and stout - and they may be numerous to completely absent. (your slug has globular). Eyes behind rhinophores, usually in clear patches (can't see your slugs eyes in pic very well, but it does look like they are right at the base behind rhinophores).

Tergipedidae Aeolidina(s) are mostly a small species, although some may be longer than 50 mm crawling length. They have an elongate body that tapers posteriorly (yours doesn't, your slug has consistent body size/shate and does not taper posteriorly or anteriorly) and the oral tentacles and rhinophores are usually long and smooth (yours is not smooth). But, the cerata is usually tubular and arranged in single oblique rows on each side of the body, (your slug has cerata on sides in rows).

You will need to confirm all this since you've seen the slug in person. What are your thoughts on this ID? Do you concur with my comments? I'm not 100% on this slug, but close to it.
-- If you believe it from the Limapontiidae family. Then keep it, it's an algae eater.
-- If you believe it a Tergipedidae family (Aeolidina), you need to pull it out. These are carnivorous, eats hydroids (corals, etc.).