stinging coral-not(?) fire coral

[storrsms]

hi- the other night when I was retrieving a veggie clip, my arm brushed against something that I thought was a sponge attached to some L/R, and it felt like a sweatbee sting-like someone put a just extinguished match on my forearm. this organism(s) is/are antique white in color,is shaped kind of like a small set of testicles, about the size of an Atomic Fireball, and looks like a pincushin with hundreds of glass-clear 'stingers' (nematocysts?) that are about 1/4-1/2 " long. I had thought this was a sponge, as it resembled the sponges that come on L/R, ball sponge-type shape, and I (obviously) didn't look real close at it until it 'bit' me.--any ideas what this may be?--I'm going to try and borrow a camera to get a picture,as this will make the guessing game easier to 'play'.


LOL- keep doin what your doin!

Mark

[OrionGirl]

Almost all (maybe all?) corals have the ability to sting--that's how they hunt. However, I can't think of anything that sounds as you've described. Did it leave anything in your skin, like stickers?

Here's a page that may help:

http://www.utah.edu/umed/students/clubs/international/presentations/dangers.html

[Boogiechillin]

Working on the assumption that it's a sponge, a couple possibilities -
1) If you whacked your arm against it with some force, you may have just stuck yourself with some of its spicules, the calcareous or siliceous structural elements that keep a sponge from collapsing on itself. These can be fairly sharp and vary in size between sponge species.
2) Some species of sponges *do* sting. Odds are unlikely that you would wind up with one, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

[mogurnda]

As BC said, in addition to fireworms and fire corals, there are fire fire sponges (http://a1410.g.akamai.net/f/1410/1633/7d/209.133.64.45/seashore/seashore_m/SC0122_1m.jpg) . They are not uncommon in the Caribbean, but your description sounds different. More like a glass sponge. The spicule theory sounds good to me.

[kreblak]

Sounds like a sponge, but I have never seen one shaped "like a small set of testicals." You did make me laugh out loud, though. I think Mogurnda and BC are on the right track. Corals look pretty distinctive.

[Corax]

You description may have been humorous, but it was also very accurate of something I've got growing in my tank. I've looked on a lot of critter ID pages but never found it. If you find any pics with an id, please post them.. (btw folks, he isn't exagerating, it DOES look like testicles.)

[storrsms]

Here is a of photo of this 'sticker'- I think it is a sponge,
as it appears more sponge-like than coral-like.

[storrsms]

Here's another photo.