Need help identifying this creature...

K

kengreenwood

Registered Member
Dec 11, 2005
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Hi all...

I need some assistance identifying this creature... I think it's some kind of worm but I'm not sure. I've noticed up to 3 or maybe 4 of these tentacles coming out from under this rock...pulling food back under... and the tentacles can stretch up to 4 or 5 inches. Maybe a spaghetti worm?

Some background on my tank... Most everything in it is about 4 years old. It's a 42 gallon bowed tank with about 90 pounds of live rock, corals, and a pair of clown fish and a wrasse. I also had a sailfin, a long nose hawk, a flame angel, and a few others but they all disappeared recently...and in the matter of two weeks - uncertain as to the exact cause but I think it was a hairy purple rock crab (about 2 to 3 inches across) that I have since removed.

Now, with that said, I have one more issue - I've been hearing clicking sounds at night... a distinctive sound like pool balls being smacked together. And I've got a pile of smashed hermit crab shells piled up in the front of the tank near where the sound is coming from. And, oh by the way, the rock in the image I am posting is where the sound is coming from as well... so, either the creature in the image is making the clicking sounds or I've got multiple creatures under that rock. I thought I may have a mantis shrimp or a pistol shrimp in there but have seen no sign of either. The rock in the pic is about eight or nine inches around...

One more note - I live in Florida and had my house tented for termites about six months ago and had to have the entire tank broken down and brought to my local fish store while the house was tented and then they brought it back and set it up afterwards... I think a few of the rocks are new so that could explain the intruders...

Any ideas?

image.jpg
 
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Hi there....That is the arm of a star, ophiarachnella gorgonia, which are a 5 armed....A good critter to have in the tank...It will scavenge and clean as it goes...
 
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Hmm...After further investigating, it looks like you are both correct. And it looks like this critter is getting more comfortable ... coming out more in the day.

Any ideas on the clicking sound?
 
The clicking sound is likely a pistol shrimp or a mantis shrimp. The difference between the sound each makes is suppose to be quite distinct, but both are known to make a clicking sound at night. It's their way of stunning prey -- if you haven't already, I'd bet you'll quickly notice a decline in your snail / hermit populations.
 
clicking sound

thanks for the input - i'm just shocked that I can't ever see the **** thing. I've read that they hide out in rocks and only come out at night (if ever) but I would have thought that I'd have seen it at least once. It's only a 42 gallon tank... but on the flip side, there are 90 pounds of rock for it to hide in.

Any suggestions for getting it out of there? If it was responsible for the loss in fish, it seems to have no appetite for my 2 clown fish and my small wrasse. :)
But based on the fact that the decline in fish stopped once I removed the hairy purple rock crab, I have to believe that the crab was the culprit at this point.
 
There are traps for them (DIY or off the shelf) - search accordingly.

Mantis shrimps come in an array of sizes. Some are highly secretive and strictly nocturnal while others will practically come out and beg for food like Cichlids. They are all either clubbers (very hard on your invert population) or spearers (tend to be harder on fish). They have better vision than pretty much anything else in the water and their raptoral appendage movement is among the fastest in the animal kingdom.

While the majority of reefers consider them to be a pest, there are numerous nanoreefs built around them. If you do a little advance inquiring at your LFS, you may be able line up a home for it in advance of catching it.
 
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