Ric trying to eat a flatworm?!

[c est ma]

This particular Ricordea never fails to amaze me. Tonight while glancing at the tank in passing I noticed that it seemed to have folded up one outside edge toward its center and that its mouth was greatly extended toward those tentacles. I grabbed my camera to record the strange posture (to me anyway--I suppose I'll now hear that they all do that! ). As I was snapping I could view continual action through the camera monitor so I just kept shooting.

 

Later, when viewing the shots on my computer, I discovered a sequence of what looked for all the world as if the Ric had been trying to pass a flatworm to its mouth with its long outer tentacles. (I've had a few of the orange/brown flatworms on the rock & glass for some days now, not a huge infestation, esp. since I siphon them out from time to time.)

 

I hope its not bad form to post too many pics in one thread--I wanted to show a good sampling of the activity, including shots that showed how the mouth seemed to be trying to reach the worm. It would seem the worm escaped...(I apologize for the change in exposure from the first to the rest--the first looked too light so I tried to stop it down a little, may have overcompensated, but didn't want to waste time by continued fumbling with the settings):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Diane

[Eric Lundgren]

Very cool.

[Daemonfly]

Interesting. Perhaps it just can't determine live from dead, and just tries to eat whatever it's tentacles deem food-worthy.

[c est ma]

That's a thought...

 

This corallimorph really puzzles me. It seems to love food such as Cyclopeeze but never closes up around it, just opens its mouth wide and seems to let the food drift in. It does close up into the little onion shape off and on throughout the night. And now it seems to be using its big outer ring of tentacles to feed itself?

 

It's also very twitchy in general--the outer tentacles move a lot. I wouldn't be surprised to look in some night and find it walking around. Well, maybe a little...

 

Both rics in this corner of the tank are extremely well colored and vibrant looking so I can't complain...When they say that corallimorphs are closely related to anemones I can easily appreciate the fact.

 

--Diane

[formerly icyuodd/icyoud2]

awesome pic's diane. i think i have ric envy nope, i know i do!

 

my green hairy shrooms love to close up like onions, but i've never seen them manipulate live foods towards thier mouth.

very cool indeed.

[janasleah]

My ric does close up around food, but not anything small, like cyclopeeze; I think it just moves them along it's tentacles to the mouth. But if I put a piece of mysis shrimp somewhere on the ric (and a hermit crab or fish doesn't steal it), then it will use its outer tentacles to bring it to its mouth. It hasn't often closed up completely like the shrooms do. What's funny is when the piece of shrimp is too big, and it sticks up out of the ric's mouth like a flagpole, slowly being drawn in.

[c est ma]

awesome pic's diane. i think i have ric envy

 

Well, don't worry. The next time you look in your sump I'm sure you'll find one or two...

 

 

 

Janasleah: I was really glad to hear that your rics show the same behavior! I've always thought that mine reacts the same way as yours to the Cyclopeeze, though it's impossible to detect any action from the oral disc tentacles. I've seen the flagpole effect, too--good term for it! My Discosomas do that too--they close up around all food first, though...

 

--Diane

[Sebea]

Very cool! Usually my rics try to swallow up whatever they catch.