Hitchhiker

[lutz123]

Most of my hitchhikers I have been able to identify but this one has me stumped. I've scoured hitchhiker ID sites and just can't find a close match. It's about the size of a grain of rice, dark brown, shaped (and sized) like a fly pupa. I even googled fly pupas to see if somehow one mysteriously got into the tank! It was moving slowly last night after lights out - I noticed it while trying to get a pic of a medusa worm. This morning it was in the same general area, still moving, though now it seems still, even after flicking it closer to the glass with a chopstick. I'm pretty certain the underside is facing the camera.

[Coral Hind]

I don't reconize it as anything I've seen before. It almost looks like it is a tail off of something, maybe a stomatella tail.

[flooddc]

miniature clam?

[lutz123]

Actually, I think it is a fly pupa. Apparently if you just google pupa "live rock" it sounds like they aren't unheard of in newly cycled rock. It looks like sometimes "saltwater" flies lay eggs in exposed live rock when it's being harvested and they develop underwater? Strange. The pupa is empty now (i pulled it out to investigate). I saw some mention that worms may push it out of the rock. I'm happy enough with that.

 

This is why I love live rock - always something new. I have Real Reef in my Nuvo and don't like it at all. Not porous enough so there's no cool stuff living in crevices and holes. I just managed to get mostly bryozoa and hydroids (and pods). Not nearly the diversity. Now I just need to decide whether I want to let this medusa worm live in a Pico...

 

Edit to say: I love when I can answer my own question! Now, back to work... It's VERY hard having tanks in my home office. Bad decision!

Edited September 3, 2013 by lutz123

[Coral Hind]

I'm glad you found out what it was. Thanks for sharing.