Very Tiny, Long, White Stringy Worm or Stinging Tentacle or Something Else on Candy Cane Coral?

[Seadragon]

Regarding the thing in the red circle below, I first saw it last night and when I went to grab my camera, it disappeared up into the candy cane flesh.  It seems as soon as I turn on the lights, it begins to disappear into the candy cane flesh.  I'm not sure if it's part of the Candy Cane coral itself (like a stinging tentacle or something) or if it's some sort of worm or parasite that lives within the Candy Cane coral flesh?  Have you seen this before?

 

Also, just for my own knowledge, what is the thing in the blue square?  It kind of resembles a light purple "twig" that grows over time, but is immobile.  Any ideas?  Thank you!

 

 

 

[Joevember]

Never seen anything like what you described living in the flesh of a candy cane, freaky... I have a white worm thing that I have living in my symphyllia, don't think it bothers it much. If you see signs of decline in the polyp then I'd give it a couple different dips or frag off the polyp. Can you make out the shape of it?

 

The stuff in the blue square looks kind of like an encrusting algae that's taken on a weird growth pattern. Not sure about it though.

[Seadragon]

19 minutes ago, Joevember said:

Can you make out the shape of it?

 

As I peer back into my tank, it has disappeared once again.  But, as memory serves me, it's like a piece of white thread soaked in water and curled up between your fingers.  When I first saw it, I was almost tempted to try to siphon it out, but there are no signs of decline for the candy cane coral so it's probably not really hurting anything (yet).

 

If I had to take a wild guess for the mystery thing in the blue square, based partly off your response, google makes me think its an articulated coralline algae.  But, I'm only guessing.

 

Thanks for your response!

[Tired]

Blue square is probably coraline algae of some sort (many types can branch) and is harmless-to-desirable. Red circle, I have no idea, but it's probably harmless. Corals generally let you know when something harmful is on/in them.

[Lovemyreef2015]

Can you try to get a clearer picture of the red circled one? I'm curious to know what it is and I love a good ID!

[Seadragon]

2 hours ago, Lovemyreef2015 said:

Can you try to get a clearer picture of the red circled one? I'm curious to know what it is and I love a good ID!

 

Well, due to extreme curiosity myself, last night I noticed it again and convinced myself it must be some sort of parasite or worm.  So I tried to siphon it out and it hung tight -- it kind of looked like a tiny white cherry that was clinging on for dear life.  I went in with my tweezers thinking I could just grab it and pull it out.  But, as I tried to grab whatever it was, it was like pulling at wet Elmer's School Glue.  Nothing really, only tiny bits and pieces that started clouding the surrounding area of where I attacked.

 

I tried a bit more to sort of "shovel" that area with my tweezers, and i got a decent amount into the water column, but some still clung to that spot.  As I peek right now, I still see this little white blob.  Whatever it is, it wants to stay in that spot.

[Seadragon]

Here's another close-up in case it helps at all.  Even after last night's carnage, it appears to be unaffected.

 

EDITED: Added black & white photo to better show the stringy worm-like structure.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Seadragon
Added black & white photo to better show the stringy worm-like structure.

[Lovemyreef2015]

21 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

Here's another close-up in case it helps at all.  Even after last night's carnage, it appears to be unaffected.

 

EDITED: Added black & white photo to better show the stringy worm-like structure.

 

 

That looks more like  mesenterial filaments coming out of the coral.

[LazyFish]

Looks like coral "guts" to me too they extrude them sometimes especialy if they want to fend off a perceived threat.