Chew on these (critter ID)

[smidoid]

OK - these are all on the same piece of LR.







I think the first one is a "chicken liver" sponge and the translucent things I have seen elsewhere, hydro-somethings, but the "chewing gum splat" is a funny little beast. I don't even know if either it (or the "liver") are dead or alive...

[zhenya]

Marc,

I think you are right in that first and last images are of the sponge of some kind. Translucent polyps could be Hydroids but I'm not sure. Those are my guesses.

[greenbean36191]

The polyps are some sort of soft coral, but from just a few indistinct polyps it's nearly impossible to get more specific.

[smidoid]

Well greenbean, those translucent polyps are minute. This was shot 1.1 with an equivant 80mm macro just about on top of them - they're probably no more than a few mms tall - if that helps. (That's why the picture's a bit fuzzy.)

[sihaya]

Middle one almost looks like Xenia? Do they pulse?

[smidoid]

Na, they just sit there wafting a bit. [O my, I'm starting to sound like Marvin!]

Probably just hydroids - but I can hope! ;-)

[greenbean36191]

The problem isn't with the quality of the picture. The trouble is just that the polyps don't show a whole lot of identifying characteristics. They are definitely octocoral polyps though, not hydroids.

[smidoid]

OK - that's a very promising start. Is there anything I can do to help with ID? I can try and get a sharper picture of them (not holding out too much hope). There are a few of them hanging around the tank, but I'd assumed they were all hydroids. Just for me, how do you tell the difference?

[greenbean36191]

I really think the polyps themselves are the limiting factor here. Coral IDs are tricky, even for experts (which I'm obviously not), especially with soft corals. Eric Borneman might be able to help you out, but I suspect that it will be pretty involved on your part. It will probably involve dissection, all sorts of preparations, and microscopy. Externally, these little guys just don't seem to have enough characters to help in an ID, especially through a photo.

You can tell these aren't hydroids by the number and shape of the tentacles. 8 tentacles is characteristic of the subclass Octocorallia (aka soft corals) and you don't find feathery tentacles like those in the hydrozoa.

[smidoid]

Thanks. That's something else I have to go and read up on! Seriously, I'm an information nut - can't get enough - it's so bad, it's affecting my sleep (amount of it!)

The "chewing gum" (third one above) has swollen a bit since the picture was taken... uh oh!