There's an alien in my tank!! (IDs - bet you can't)

[Sambo]

OK, so this morning I was looking at my tank and saw ..... something! I have no idea what this is, and the pics may not help very much, but they were the best I could get... (second with the foreign thing ringed)




The pics were taken at an angle, through an arch in the LR (you can just see the favia/favites sitting above it). This 'thing' is probably about 1 inch by 1/2 inch, oval in shape. It protrudes from the rockwork by about 1/2 inch - but reacts to light just like a tube worm. It has what looks like rudimentary fans or something towards the top that are coloured white/light - at about 10-12 and 12-2 on the clockface - very short and stubby. There is a central hole in the 'face' or disc (or whatever it is) and it looks symmetrical either side of a midline plane drawn from 12 to 6 on the clockface. The whole is a mottled brown/grey color. I've never seen anything like it, even in books!

Any guesses?? It must have come in the LR (which I inherited from someone else's tank) and must have a burrow it lives in - so I'm presuming some sort of worm. But a large one...!

[dobejazz]

First glance it looks like a nudi to me Does it move around?

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by dobejazz

First glance it looks like a nudi to me Does it move around?

I thought the same thing at first glance when i first read this thread.

Then i saw where he said it flinches like a featherduster back into its hole and didnt have a clue

[Reef-Keeper]

looks like it may be some type of mussel to me.

[Fly Guy]

Is that a shell(or at least a shell that looks like a rock) it retracts into Sambo?? Its hard to tell from the pic, but now that reef-keeper said that it kinda looks like it.

If so it may be a .....ummmm......cant remember the name......thinking.......common name has the word "lamp" in it. Ive got a few that actually could look like that pic but the animal inside mine are blackish. Their shells look liek the surrounding rock and open and close hen they flinch

[Reef-Keeper]

i have seen tons of the "shells" on LR at the LFS i work at ... sadly nothing is ever inside when i see them there so i could not tell you what they look like when they are alive OR what they are. it just looks like some type of mussel to me.

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Reef-Keeper

i have seen tons of the "shells" on LR at the LFS i work at ... sadly nothing is ever inside when i see them there so i could not tell you what they look like when they are alive OR what they are. it just looks like some type of mussel to me.

Were probably sidetracking this thread and hes got something totally different......lol

BUT, the creatures im thinking of intrigued me a couple of years ago when i first saw them. Their shells seriously look like rocks and unless you see them open, you wouldnt know it was anything. When they are dead the shells hang a little open all the time.

The creature inside looks kinda like the layers of an accordion.

Unfortuantely i cant for the life of me remember what they are really called.......just the word "lamp" in the common name.

[Reef-Keeper]

lamp shade mollusk ?? lol back to the topic at hand. sorry, i couldn't resist !!

[Reef-Keeper]

is this it ??

http://www.spccc.org/news/images/lampmussel.jpg

[Fly Guy]

Originally Posted by Reef-Keeper

is this it ??

http://www.spccc.org/news/images/lampmussel.jpg

Not what im thinking of, but i dont think this thread is ABOUT what im thinking of

[Sambo]

Originally Posted by Fly Guy

Is that a shell(or at least a shell that looks like a rock) it retracts into Sambo?? Its hard to tell from the pic, but now that reef-keeper said that it kinda looks like it.

Nope - no shell. The angle makes it hard to see - the whole thing is fleshy, and the stubby frills either side at the top do look a bit like mussel shells seen side-on - but no shell, and no shell or hard structure on the rock. I can't find it anywhere on the wetwebmedia pages - have just emailed someone at the smithsonian, so will keep you all posted. Now I really want to know!!!