Potential new Acoel-flatworm-consumer ID

[tdwyatt]

Hey Folks,

Mary Middlebroks is trying to find an ID for a potential new flatworm (acoel) consuming nudibranch. Here's the picture, I am sure that she would love to know (as I would as well) what it's id is and any reproductive info that any of you are privy to.



any takers? btw, I've already gone through the seaslug forum, but any help from there is welcome!

Thanks in Advance,

Tom

[Rick O]

I hope it has a better grip than Chelidonura varians.

Tom do you know if these are available?

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Rick O
...do you know if these are available?

Not yet, not even sure that they DO consume acoel flatworms, nor if they by some chance don't consume something we want to keep, for instance, they may be snail predators as well. I will be doing some reserch on them in the mean time, but it would be nice to hear what Mary has come up with on these so far...

hint hint wink wink nudge nudge

[tdwyatt]

btw, interestingly enough, one BENEFICIAL aftereffect from the combination of siphoning out all the flatworms from the prop system for 3 months and adding about 7 different predators and the 6 days fiasco without power and almost 2 weeks without proper lights...

...I can report that I have not had a single acoel flatworm in the prop system for close to a month now

[tdwyatt]

BTW, for those of you that want the link to the forum, it is

http://www.seaslugforum.net/welcome.htm

[Spanky]

I've already gone through the seaslug forum, but any help from there is welcome!

Tom, I'm not clear on this. Did you ask Bill to ID it and he couldn't come up with anything?

Tell him it's a slightly different color variety of Notodoris serenae and to start looking there.

More than likely it's not flatworm specific on it's feeding either.

Jerel

[tdwyatt]

Yeah, my thoughts on this as well, although I don't see enough of sea slugs in general to even THINK that I would be able to exclude the possibility that such a creature would be out there (hopeful thinking for those out there with flatworms...) I would like to see someone come up with a means of reliably reproducing Cheledonura varians, but they just don't seem to ship well, nor be capable of reproducing well in captivity. Almost all of the specimens that I have seen were wild-caught, definitely from slow or standing shallow lagoonal conditions at best.

[Spanky]

Now those guys do eat worms.

The one you posted a picture of looks just like a doris to me. See how he's folded up along his back. They eat mostly sponge and gorgs.

[Rick O]

Tom I have the retired 20 gal prop system that's loaded with flatworms. A friend has ordered some Salifert Flatworm Exit and we're going to try it out in it. Salifert claims the product is safe to invertabrates (aren't flatworms an invertabrate?). I plan to put some snails and coral frags in there for the experiment. I'll report to results on TRT.

[Spanky]

Rick

Habib says to use it full strength the first time. Don't be shy!

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Rick O
...ordered some Salifert Flatworm Exit and we're going to try it out in it. Salifert claims the product is safe to invertabrates (aren't flatworms an invertabrate?). I plan to put some snails and coral frags in there for the experiment. I'll report to results on TRT.

I would be intereseted to find out what the active ingredient is in it. If it is a imidazole type of Glucose uptake inhibitor, they are indescriminate and will kill all creatures that are related to the acoel flatworms (most round worms and some othere segmented critters, drug would be linted az mebendazole or piperazine or a related imidazole.) If it is a nonspecific antiparicitic drug like metronidazole, it will not only kill all the related worms, but it is a potent gram negative and anaerobic antibacterial, and will kill most of the critters in the sandbed, bacteria included.

What is the active ingredient? If it isn't listed, send me the ndc # or the UPC code, I will look it up on the Poisonindex and find the active ingredients. If it kills lots of critters in the sandbed, then we have to consider a minicycle as the organisms deteriorate... Now I am curious, although I don't have any flatworms (yet...)

[CAT]

From my readings on other forums, the jury is still out on this product. There is some consensus that Flatworm Exit is probably 'safe' for corals and fish, but the toxins released by the flatworms when they die is causing real problems. I just read a post where the poster used less than the recommended dosage and everything died... Scary. Maybe it works if there aren't too many planaria in the system to begin with.

Rick, I'd be interested in your results as I have the nasty red devils in my refugium.

Cherry

[Jimbo]

I have the brownish yellow flatworms in my tank, where the fighting conches travel they do not exist. Believe they eat them, heck they eat everything on the surface of the sandbed. Some have said the manderin gobies eat them also.

~Jimbo