New critter! What the heck is this!?!?

M

Malachite

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #1

Ok. This thing is flat and crawls on the glass like a worm. It stretches out very skinny and long and then pulls itself back together very wide. It appears to live under the substrate and may have just recently came out while I am dismantlingthe tank.

EDIT: I added some more pics. I was able to catch it and move it around. Shortly after these pics it crawled under the subsrate and I lost it.

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2005

V

Veneer

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #2

From the image and the description, it appears to be a leech (Hirudinea); it's not necessarily sanguivorous - many species feed exclusively on small invertebrates.

[See http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/helmint/annelhom/hiru0100/leech-00.jpg.]

 

M

Malachite

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #3

Veneer said:

From the image and the description, it appears to be a leech (Hirudinea); it's not necessarily sanguivorous - many species feed exclusively on small invertebrates.

[See http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/helmint/annelhom/hiru0100/leech-00.jpg.]

Click to expand...

Hmm. That does kind of look like it. Because of my original overfeeding I did have a snail explosion. I guess he could be munching off those little fella's.

 

V

Veneer

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #4

A question - does it exhibit modes of movement similar to those depicted here?

 

V

Veneer

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #5

The ventral plane of a predatory leech (bearing young).

Do its vermiform movements across the substrate look anything like this?

 

M

Malachite

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #6

Veneer said:

The ventral plane of a predatory leech (bearing young).

Do its vermiform movements across the substrate look anything like this?

Click to expand...

It does look more like this pic. If you look at pic 11-14 that I attached you can kind of see the motion. It is fat. It stretches out. and gets thin. The front holds it's location. and the rear follows making it fat again.

The other diagrams didn't match but this pic defiantely does.

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2005

Bmeasure

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• Mar 19, 2005

• #7

I must say...that's pretty disgusting looking! I agree that is does appear to be some form of leech! Did you add anything to your tank from a local pond/river/ditch/etc?

 

M

Malachite

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• Mar 21, 2005

• #8

Bmeasure said:

I must say...that's pretty disgusting looking! I agree that is does appear to be some form of leech! Did you add anything to your tank from a local pond/river/ditch/etc?

Click to expand...

Nothing but the plants that i bought from PetSmart. I have a feeling they hitched in there. I did not quarantine them first and thus had a snail and leech explosion. I just got through tearing the tank down and found bunches of those things living in the substrate. From now on I fully quarantine and bleach all my plants!

 

Harlock

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• Mar 21, 2005

• #9

A convert

Malachite said:

Nothing but the plants that i bought from PetSmart. I have a feeling they hitched in there. I did not quarantine them first and thus had a snail and leech explosion. I just got through tearing the tank down and found bunches of those things living in the substrate. From now on I fully quarantine and bleach all my plants!

Click to expand...

Good policy.

 

Dangerdoll

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• Mar 22, 2005

• #10

ugh, I think this needs to be added to my list of frights..... I dunno if I would be able to work with a tank that had a leech in it.... they completely creep me out!