pest?

[Kristy]

I've found a new critter nestled down in a couple of different zoa colonies. One of these colonies is doing fine, the other has been losing polyps. Tried to get a picture of the three I pulled off so far, but would have to go buy a better camera with a macro lens!

So, I'll describe it in hopes someone knows right away. I have had the pleasure of finding tiny white brittle stars hiding in a rock or coral that comes into my tank and that's what I had assumed was going on here when I first caught a glimpse of a tiny little leg poking out. These have black and white banded legs though, and there are only three legs. There is a central head with two very small antennae on the head. Whole thing is maybe the size of a dime when legs are outstretched, with the center head being the size of the head of a pin.

Any suggestions?

[ErikH]

Those are ok from my understanding. I forget the name, though. I have a whole bunch of them in my rocks. Zoa colonies, much like any other coral will differ from group to group. It could be too much light, flow, etc etc. Or it could be a pest. If possible, you could lugos dip them or FW dip them to see if any pests show themselves.

[RayAllen]

Kristy I had lots of small serpent star in the rock, that have black white banded arms but to my knowledge they dont eat zoas.

[RayAllen]

They came from Macro I got from Tater, and from everything ive read are good to have. I never had any corals with the rock so who know what creature may be eating your zoas. Hopefully you discover the culprit.

[bigmoe21]

i think i had something like that, the legs were coming out like they were looking for food or something..i think someone told me they were a peanut worm?? they had black and white banded legs too

[RayAllen]

Heres good info on Peanuts
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rs/index.php

[Fish4life]

when i got a conch it ate my zoas :) Have you made any new additions lately?

Cheers,

Kurt

[Kristy]

Thanks guys for the info. From the peanut link I can tell you that this is definitely not a peanut worm that we have here. Does not look similar at all.

It might not be a pest, could be completely unrelated to the polyps that were disappearing off that zoa colony. But, since I found three of them on there when I dipped that colony a couple of weeks ago (no further polyp loss has been noticed since the dip) and now I have seen one clear across the tank on a different zoa colony that is thriving... I thought I'd better ask to see if anyone can tell me for certain what my new little creatures are.

I would say that it is not a brittle star either, because all the brittle stars I've ever seen have more legs than that. These have only the three legs and a distinctive set of antennae feelers near the head/mouth area.

[ErikH]

Is it more wormlike or more starfish-esque?

[bigmoe21]

here is when i asked..not great pics either sorry but i did see a few arms
http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39586

[brewercm]

Check for spaghetti worm. Sounds like it could be that.

[Kristy]

Is it more wormlike or more starfish-esque?

Definitely not wormlike at all... it's very starfish-esque (nice new descriptive terminology!) The legs are very slender and banded black and white. The only reason it does not seem to be a starfish is that there are only the three legs and the distinctive antennae things. Might have to borrow a camera with a decent zoom feature so I can show you guys.

Thanks again for the helpful responses.

[apedroza]

could be smaller legs that haven't grown out yet, so in actuality it does have 5 legs. Seroent stars have been known to shed legs then grow them back.

[Kristy]

could be smaller legs that haven't grown out yet, so in actuality it does have 5 legs. Seroent stars have been known to shed legs then grow them back.

I thought that for a second initially, but then took a closer look. The shorter two antennae ones are different than the long thin legs, they are sort of feathery and thicker. Also, I have come across four of these creatures so far and they are all identical, so there is no way that all four of these different serpent stars happen to have the same mishap and end up with a pair of shorter legs.

Somewhere in the back of my brain I think I remember reading about a reef pest that fit this description, but now I cannot find anything on it. I keep hoping someone will read this and and know exactly what I am talking about.

[apedroza]

HMM pics would definitely help!!

[MissT]

have you checked zoaid.com? they've got a decent database for stuff that messes with zoas