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What is this that my mushrooms are attached to?


cowboy

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I am still working on trying to figure out how to get my picture size down so I can get it to post, but here is a description of what I have. I bought a mushroom rock yesterday and after getting it home I noticed that not all of the rock is actually a rock. There is somthing that looks almost like a piece of "chewed bubble gum" that has been stuck under a desk. It is light brown in color and has 2 holes that are somtime open and at other times closed. The openings are about 3/8 inch across and have what looks like teeth back inside the opening. The whole thing is probably 3 inches long and has some mushrooms that are attached to it. I will work on getting the pic posted. Thanks.

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I would say this is some kind of combo item.....

 

A tunicate, with something growing in the bottom of it.....

 

Very very strange, for sure....

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I havent touched it yet but it does react to movement like waving your hand in front of the aquarium. If you make a sudden move infront of it the opening on the front and the one on the top close at the same time.

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It's just a tunicate. The tentacles are part of the tunicate where some tunicates have fairly pronounced oral tentacles. Here's a link to a tunicate anatomy illustration:

 

http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/classes/bio136...rochordata.html

 

also, if you look closely you can see some fine, hair-like oral tenticles in these:

 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=mem...%3Doff%26sa%3DN

 

A little blurb about preditory tunicates:

http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/d...t.asp?inhab=168

 

Here you'll find another good illustration of an adult tunicate. This drawing shows the direct connect from the oral tentacles to the "brain":

http://www.nearctica.com/nathist/chordata/chorintr.htm

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I think I've got an idea :woot:. Feed it human blood with a turkey baster and see if it grows and will devour anyone that get's to close.

 

What a way to go... He was eaten by a reef anus, God rest his soul.

 

-Justin

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