what is this?

[photog]

I have had my tank up and running for about a month and a half. It has cycled and everything is running smooth and growing (pods, small dusters, etc.) I have not had to post yet as I have been able to answer every question I have had by searching and reading. But I came home from work yesterday and discovered this on the back of one of my LR. The pictures are not the best because of it's location. I cannot seem to find what it is. I am sure it will be a quick answer for some of you that have been around for a while.

[Neon]

anemone or a coral.not sure though

[xcajx]

Does it retract into the rock when you poke at it or even shake the tank a bit? I have never seen something like that. Try and see if it has an obvious center ie mouth. If it does then you know it is 1 organism and not lots of little ones. Maybe we can narrow it down from there.

 

I think I see more little worm thingies off to the right sticking out from the rock. If they are individuals it isn't an anemone I don't think. It may be some kind of worm colony.

 

Let us know about the mouth.

 

good luck,

 

Chris

[coralreefer]

if it has a mouth, could be open cup coral.

[scd]

It does not look like an anemone or coral to me... From that picture. But I think we need to see a head on shot. It looks like a sea slug, but if it is stationary that is not it either. Assuming it is stationary, I am leaning toward worm colony. Doctor Ron at ReefCentral could probably give a good id based on your pic.

[photog]

I assumed this was a simple newb question was why I didn't post here first. Guess I should have. Thanks for moving it whoever took care of that.

I looked and could not find anything I could tell was a mouth.

I was able to turn my aquarium so that I could get more of a straight on shot.

This is on the back side of the LR so it is not something that gets much light.

for reference the entire patch is about 10mm in diameter. Each tube is about .5mm to 1mm

they did not seem to react when I poked at them.

[photog]

they do not appear to be seperate.

It also, does not apear to have moved in the two or three days since I found it.

[scd]

I still think worm colony, but it's hard to be sure as I have not seen one like that before. If it is a tube worm colony, you should be able to see the worms come out the end of the tubes when the lights are out. It will likely look like thin tentacles extending from the ends of the tubes... Probably one 'tentacle' (worm) per tube.