Unknown inhabitant

[Dani]

Hello all!

I'm hoping that someone can help me figure out what this Live Rock Hitch hiker is... I was told that it looks like an Aiptasia but I'm not convinced yet. It is coming out of a tube attached to a small peice of my live rock. The tube is the same color as the rock on the lower part and the same white/clear color as the head on the upper part. It does not respond to movement or light but will go inside it's tube when touched. The tube is very soft almost squishy to the touch all the way down. Anyway, I hope someone can steer me in the right direction here. If it is Aiptasia I would imagine my Peppermint shrimp will do away with it soon enough. If not i would like to know how to handle it... If it is a good guy I would like to care for it properly. If not I need to rid it from my tank.

Thanks much!
Dani

[charlie]

Hey Dani:
Welcome to Reefland
If it doesn't respond to light, then it may not be aiptasia, but it is hard to tell, sorry I can't help more.

[gregr]

I vote aiptasia. The shrimp *might* get it- cross your fingers. They never worked for me. Kalkwasser paste injected into the anenome works pretty well and there aiptasia killing products you can get like Joe's Juice. The key is killing them before they spread. Seems like aiptasia and hair algae are the two evilest plagues that haunt most reefkeepers at one time or another

[Ninong]

Hi Dani, welcome to Reefland!

I don't think it's Aiptasia. It appears to be a harmless polychaete. My eyesight isn't all that good right now, so I will ask zhenya if he can give you are more definitive definition. It looks like one of those worms that live in tubes that they construct themselves.

On the other hand, my eyesight is really terrible right now, which is why I asked zhenya to take a look at it.

[zhenya]

Hi Dani, welcome to Reefland!

I don't think it's Aiptasia. It appears to be a harmless polychaete. My eyesight isn't all that good right now, so I will ask zhenya if he can give you are more definitive definition. It looks like one of those worms that live in tubes that they construct themselves.

On the other hand, my eyesight is really terrible right now, which is why I asked zhenya to take a look at it.

I don't believe this is Aiptasia either, however, it would be hard to put a name on it without seen the entire animal. As it stands right now, with the picture that you provided, it could be many things.
My guess would be that, and that is from your description mainly,that it is some sort of polychaete like Ninong mentioned.

[Dani]

Well thank you all for your help. I will do some more research and see if I can figure out how to care for this little guy!

[gregony]

Add another to the not aiptasia list. It appears to have a basal disc of some sort, which would tend to suggest it's not a polychaete, but an anemone or hydroid of some sort. I don't think its aiptasia though, because of the proportion of the tentacles to the disc.

[Doodaa]

Add another to the not aiptasia list. It appears to have a basal disc of some sort, which would tend to suggest it's not a polychaete, but an anemone or hydroid of some sort. I don't think its aiptasia though, because of the proportion of the tentacles to the disc.

I concur, but holy cow...the coloration is so much like an aiptaisia. Pictures can be so darn deceiving sometimes...it's hard to tell.

[Dani]

It's true that the pictures don't do it justice. I've looked at a lot of aiptasia pictures and I'm sure that's not what it is.