View Full Version : the critters in my live rock???
I bought a 3 pound piece of rock today. When I got home I see that I have 4 little thing that look like tiny feather dusters coming from it. Are these feather dusters or some type of live rock creature that is a part of the rock? Thanks.
Boogiechillin
04-21-2003, 5:08 PM
It's perfectly normal to see small featherdusters hitch hike in on live rock. They don't require any special attention and pose no threat to anything else. Enjoy the freebies! :)
OrionGirl
04-21-2003, 5:32 PM
There are several types of tube worms, each with their own niche. Some occupy existing holes in the rock, while others actively chew their own hole. Some secrete a sticky substance that they use to build a tube around them, similar to FW caddis fly larvae, while others build a stony tube for themselves. Cool things to check for! The feeding mechanisms vary as well--the feathery type, with their filtering fans, to the 'fisher's--the little guys that spit out a sticky string to catch particles, to ones that sneak out at night and search for food.
Thanks for the replies! I have now counted 7 of the little things and one that is REAL tiny w/ more of a reddish color. Te others are sort of off-white. Really neat! I almost got a free small hermit crab hitchhike along too. When the LFS lady was scooping out the rock she was almost in the bag w/ the rock and a crab the size of a marble popped out of the rock at the last minute!:mad: Oh well, I still like what I got!!!:)