Hydroid?

NaH2O

Contributing Member
Here is one of 2 that I have found total living on my live rock. Somehow life survived the nasty cesspool that was once a cycling tank. I thought that it was some sort of hydroid, but I wasn't certain hydroids have a hard tube. This critter and the other one retract into their tubes, so I was also thinking anemone of some kind. I woke up too early this morning to figure it out, so I may be missing something obvious. Tubularian Hydroid? BTW - the other tubes next to this one haven't shown any life....yet.

Here it is...
 

NaH2O

Contributing Member
After staring at my rock work for some time....I noticed several in another piece of rock. They are inside, and I can just make out the dot at the points of the tentacles. Same tube structure.
 

BoomerD

Well-Known Member
I don't think that's a hydroid, but one of these:
Pseudocorynactisfijithumb.jpg


"Pseudocorynactis spp. are like Corynactis but are much larger (to about six inches (15 cm) diameter, and usually not colonial. They also reproduce by fission, but it is unusual to find more than about six clones together as a group. The so-called orange ball anemones that can be observed on coral reefs at night are Pseudocorynactis spp. The column varies in color from cryptic shades of brown to orange, red and magenta. The tips of the tentacles are commonly bright orange, but they can also be white. These tentacle tips are extremely sticky, like flypaper, due to the presence of powerful nematocysts. This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth. Pseudocorynactis spp. can be fed daily, but only require twice weekly feeding to keep them healthy. If they are not fed frequently enough, they shrink. There is a marked behavioral difference between the common Caribbean and Indo-Pacific species.

The Caribbean species, Pseudocorynactis caribbaeorum mainly opens its tentacles at night, and closes rapidly when it senses light. The Indo-Pacific species remains open both day and night, and is not sensitive to light. The presence of food smells (dissolved amino acids) in the water stimulates either species to open up and extend the tentacles, and the caribbean species can be trained to open in the light by feeding it during daylight hours. The mechanism for its apparent memory is not known.
Whether you have a large reef aquarium or a simple small aquarium, any of the corallimorphs can be easily maintained and enjoyed for decades. "
 

NaH2O

Contributing Member
Yeah, Boomer I thought about that one. The only thing is I didn't see any information on a calcareous tube structure. It is so small, too. It is a little larger than this "O". I was zoomed in 14X on that macro, which doesn't mean it won't get larger. Perhaps as it ages it will color up and provide some more clues. Right now it is completely translucent - I can't even see where the mouth would be if in fact it is this.

Hmmm...I'll have to think about that one
 

pyxis

Member
ok, so in summary. are these things good to have or bad? i have noticed abiout 3-4 of them in my tank
 

BoomerD

Well-Known Member
Nikki, I'm really ot sure either...I had some links to a smaller ball anemone that looked like yours, but I can't find it...Maybe Boomer can shed some light on this...
 

NaH2O

Contributing Member
Tomorrow I am going to see if it retracts into the tube or just folds up. It is difficult to tell because they are hard to see.

pyxis, are yours like my photo or more like the picture BoomerD posted? I imagine they wouldn't be too much trouble if they stay a small size and don't infest the tank. However, these may sting corals in close proximity (touching). Have you had any issues with yours?
 

Curtswearing

Active Member
You're giving me a headache Nikki. It looks like bloated hyroid, a skinny brown cup coral, or a very small balanophyllia.

I'll keep working.
 

pyxis

Member
mine look like the pic boomer posted. they are on the back of my rocks or under the rocks, never out in the light (that I have noticed) mine are about the size of a .50 cent piece
 

NaH2O

Contributing Member
Curt - You may have hit it with the brown cup coral. I'll see if I can get a better picture of the "tube" It really doesn't look as much like a tube as it does a skeleton, now that I look closer at it. I noticed the brown cup coral's distribution is California....at least that is what I have found so far. Let me see if I can get a better picture.
 
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