Zoomy worm?

[skyguy]

Hello - first-time poster, long-time reader.

 

I've got a JBJ NanoCube (deluxe!) that currently contains only (Oceanic) water and 21 lbs of cured live rock. All's well, but the other night, I noticed a small, white beastie just ZOOMing around the tank. I'm sorry, I don't have a picture; it's just zooming around too fast. It only comes out at night, after the tank lights are off.

 

It's white (or very light-colored), about an inch long and maybe 1/8" wide. It's vertically compressed (flat) and it swims pretty well - very acrobatic, with loops and quick reverses, up to the surface, down to the gravel. ZOOMing!

 

I'm sure it came in with one of the rocks, which have been in the tank for a couple of weeks now. Lots of other nice stuff coming out, too.

 

Any idea what this zoomy worm/fish thing might be?

 

Thanks!

[Gross111]

pods you will see more

[reef hugger]

Sounds like a mysid shrimp to me.

[Hwarang]

If it's an inch long it's not a copepod/mysid shrimp.

[cartophilus]

I have had two of these, skyguy, and I wondered what they were each time. The weird thing is, each time I saw one (at night) I would fire up the 400 watt metal halide and the "zoomy worm" would get all disoriented and sucked through the intake on my maxijet. It took two passes to kill him, but same thing with both. I took pictures, but didn't post them because they were blurry. I can't find them right now, I'll look later. I definetely had the same thing, a little over an inch long, vertically compressed, swims-like-hell littl bastage. Hopefully someone knows.

[skyguy]

I just looked at some pictures of Mysid shrimp, and they're not quite what I've got. This zoomy beastie doesn't appear to have limbs like an arthropod. If anything, it looks like a tiny albino eel. (Does anyone have the new CD from the Tiny Albino Eels? I think they played my prom...)

 

Thanks for your assistance. I'm planning on adding a clown and a royal gramma in a couple of weeks, so perhaps the little zoomer can contribute to their diet and exercise program.

 

thanks again,

 

E.

[cartophilus]

Does your worm/eel thing have eyes? Mine didn't appear to, but apeared to have some dark spots where eyes would be, like partially evolved eyes or photoreceptors. What the hell is it?

[KYreef]

I just found one in my tank, too....scared the crap outta me. I just re-structured the tank and had the lights out awhile and flicked them on real quick to see what was going on and there is this long white ...what I thought was debris doing loops. It seemed to be moving too purposefully to be debris. On closer examination, what appeared to be the head was followed with a long flat body and the edges appeared to be even more flattened ...similat to the fins on an eel to provide locomotion. I could not see eyes, but it was 1.5-2 inches long....all white.....and kept looping till it found the rock and went and hid. Sounds like the same thing you had, but can't figure it out either. If you find it, let me know, too.

 

Thanx