Unusual long tentacle plate coral activity

[wscttwolfe]

Last night about 3 hours after lights out, LT plate coral was in the middle of its nightly water exchange. Guess something had dug a hole under the coral, right next to the glass.

Coming out from UNDER the coral were what looked like stinger or digestive filaments. Seen these before or is anyone able to ID what part of the anatomy these are?

 

[sirrealism]

Thats a new one on me. But with a deep sand bed you never know whats living in there.

 

[frisbee]

They look like Mesenterial Filaments. Pretty much the corals guts. Sometimes these are used as a defense mechanism.

 

[wscttwolfe]

I agree completely. It looked like the tentacles that come out when two corals are battling. Just seemed strange to me that these were coming out of the bottom of the coral

 

[DaveK]

Possibly not as unusual as you might think. First, you seldom get to see the bottom of a plate coral. Second, since they can move, and live on the sand, they might move over something they might want to eat or something that might attack them.

 

[Oxylebius]

Ooo, long tentacles from under a plate coral you say? This is possibly a platyctenida. It's in the class of tentaculata and phylum of ctenophore. They are considered ectosymbiotic and often will take up shop under a plate coral without harm. If so, this is VERY cool!!! If this is what you have it is harmless and you should welcome its presence

So, how do you properly ID it? On this sea slug forum page are a bunch of different pictures of them, scroll all the way down the page: http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/ctenopho - they are sometimes really hard to see, they can be flat and translucent and blend into the bottom of the plate coral.

And here is a video of one of those long tentacles coming out from under a plate coral.
The long tentacles have comb-like side branches.
[video=youtube;QGQLYsfsEi8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQLYsfsEi8&feature=youtu.be[/video]

So, is this similar to what you have seen in your tank?

 

[Choff]

Oxy your knowledge astounds me.

...stupid auto correct

 

[wscttwolfe]

Ooo, long tentacles from under a plate coral you say? This is possibly a platyctenida. It's in the class of tentaculata and phylum of ctenophore. They are considered ectosymbiotic and often will take up shop under a plate coral without harm. If so, this is VERY cool!!! If this is what you have it is harmless and you should welcome its presence

So, how do you properly ID it? On this sea slug forum page are a bunch of different pictures of them, scroll all the way down the page: http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/ctenopho - they are sometimes really hard to see, they can be flat and translucent and blend into the bottom of the plate coral.

And here is a video of one of those long tentacles coming out from under a plate coral.
The long tentacles have comb-like side branches.

So, is this similar to what you have seen in your tank?

This is totally cool; something I did not know. I do not think it is a platyctenida, but I'll keep an eye out

 

[Oxylebius]

Oxy your knowledge astounds me.

What can I say, I am a crazy marine biologist, sometimes the invertebrates are so interesting.... once I missed a gray whale swimming right by me on a pinnacle dive b/c I had my head in a hole checking out some nudibranch with a flashlight Only found out about the gray whale after the dive back on the zodiac when the other divers surfaced all excited about a gray whale siting underwater :closed:

 

[Oxylebius]

This is totally cool; something I did not know. I do not think it is a platyctenida, but I'll keep an eye out

Too bad. Do you have any other thoughts of what it could be? Maybe part of the coral, as frisbee suggested?

 

[wscttwolfe]

Probably Mesenterial Filaments, but I'm no expert.

Wishing I was a marine bio major in college now.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

What can I say, I am a crazy marine biologist, sometimes the invertebrates are so interesting.... once I missed a gray whale swimming right by me on a pinnacle dive b/c I had my head in a hole checking out some nudibranch with a flashlight Only found out about the gray whale after the dive back on the zodiac when the other divers surfaced all excited about a gray whale siting underwater :closed:

Sounds like you are living a very cool life Oxy! Love your Ocean quote as well Spot-on.