The Propagator Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I forget who I was suposed to show these to....but any ways..... here they are !! These little buggers wont make quick work of them but they wil and do eat polyps and tissue on all types of sps. That includes montipora, birdsnest, cats paw....etc etc etc.....any small polyped stony coral. I posted th epic with my index finge rin frame for size reference. These guys are extremely hard to see. They are almost completely translucent and the largest ones ( like shown ) are only about 1/8" in total diameter. They are almost impossible to see when the coral is out of the water. The reasonis because they are so small and so light the weight of the water and even their own weight makes them colapse against the rock or coral. This combined with the fact that they are almost completely transparent presents a problem when looking for them. When I suspect I have them I simply pick up the coral, leave it in the tank and look all over it directyl under my lights. They will immediatly move into a shaded area when light hits them in most cases so look in between branches, crevasses and the under sid eof the coral its self as well as the rock they are on or what ever they are attached to. I took several angles but in every photo the head is pointing donw in the pics. With out the little bastage sitting in that large drop of water he would smash down and be almost impossible to see LOL! I am also uploading a video of him moving around inside his little suface tention formed death row cell. directly afterwards he was dispatched via razor then flushed ! F-em ! DAMN man !! I am trying to upload the video but its taking for ever ! Its only like a minute and a half long AVI. I am uploading it to photobucket and its stuck at %50 and says "encoding" has said that for about 5 minutes now and I have Broad band damn it ! Link to comment
divecj5 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Wow...now if that doesn't look like some sort of space creature I'm not sure what does It wasn't posted for me but informative nonetheless. Another knowledge nugget from Prop!!! Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 I don't know what gives with this video ? After about TWENTY MINUTES it uploaded and then didn't even show up in the album I uploaded it to or in my photobucket account at all for that matter Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I HATE spiders of all kinds. Especially the ones that eat coral! Link to comment
Lmecher Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Man, I have been fighting to get rid of zoa eating nudis now I have to worry about spiders eating my SPS. I remember the days when I'd just look at my tanks, relax and enjoy them. Now I am like a mad hunter looking for preditors. Thanks, great pics. : ) Link to comment
TJ_Burton Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Man, I have been fighting to get rid of zoa eating nudis now I have to worry about spiders eating my SPS. I remember the days when I'd just look at my tanks, relax and enjoy them. Now I am like a mad hunter looking for preditors. Thanks, great pics. : ) Can't let the hobby get boring now, can we? Link to comment
shiveley Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 i had a couple of those come in on some zoa colonies from indonesia. ugly buggers. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 Yup. I have no idea if they eat zoas or not though? They may? Its best to just toss'em as you find them. Now just to clarify ( because based on the replies in another thread I made CLICK HERE I know it will happen because folks don't like to read whats in front of them and I don't want to be the balme) These are NOT the same as zoanthid eating spiders. Zoa spiders are much much larger and mottled brown. Link to comment
er1c_the_reefer Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 these pictures were from april 3. i picked up a couple of parasite infected frags from some LFS's for an experiment i'm doing. first picture you can see 2 of them sitting on a montipora digitata. second picture i yanked them off with tweezers and placed them into 30mL of water. these little boogers are tough. they survived 45 minutes sitting in 30mL of water that had 2mL of TechD added to it. I added another 20 drops of Lugol's iodine and waited another 15 minutes. They stopped moving, but started up again on stimulation. I placed them back into normal tank water and I'll see if they're still alive in the morning. It should also be noted that they survived the initial Interceptor dip that I do with my SPS corals. side note: my spiders are buffer than yours prop. yours look kind of scrawny. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 I'm glad they are scrawny ! That means they aren't eating ! Also it looks as if they can take on the coloration of what ever they are eating by the tissue coloration of the coral you plucked that one off of and the coloration of mine. No eating- no color? OHH NO !! Eric it also looks like you may have a predatory miniature starfish problem as well. See that tiny white thing that looks like a barnacle? Check that booger out pronto if you can find it. If it is a starfish it is definitely the predatory kind. Link to comment
Rick12341 Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 DAMN man !! I am trying to upload the video but its taking for ever !Its only like a minute and a half long AVI. I am uploading it to photobucket and its stuck at %50 and says "encoding" has said that for about 5 minutes now and I have Broad band damn it ! Convert it to an MPG, it will be 1/10th the size. Link to comment
Sexy Shrimp Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Prop - could you change the title to include a description to help newbs with searches? I bet if you searched an ID on a description it wouldn't bring this thread up Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Change it to what? No one has a positive ID on these guys. Link to comment
tomshannon Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Taxonomically, they are called Pycnogonids... a type of chelicerate. Some are algal eaters, most most are omnivorous and/or carnivorous. In general, what they eat depends on their mouth-parts, but many have a proboscis designed for piercing tissues and sucking out internal fluids and cells from their prey... in some instances, corals etc. Best to get rid of them. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 Where the hell did you find an ID on these guys? Post the link please. GOOD WORK ! Link to comment
tomshannon Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Where the hell did you find an ID on these guys? Post the link please. GOOD WORK ! I used to teach Invertebrate zoology and have maintained research aquaria for over 10 years... I'd link to my cranium, but there's some stuff up there I really wouldn't want other folk to see. I would recommend getting a good Invertebrate Zoology textbook. I personally like Brusca & Brusca's "Invertebrates"; the taxonomy is a wee bit dated, but it's a great reference book with excellent drawings. Link to comment
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