Rare Polyclad Flatworm? Caught!

[Regric25]

:ph34r:

Hey everyone. I just thought I might share an interesting discovery I made about my tank.

So when we set up our 29g BC a couple of months ago we noticed a huge supply of Stomatella snails hitchhiked onto our live rock. We thought BONUS algae cleaner! Over the last couple of months we have noticed a decline of stomatells snails and an increase of shells on our sandbed. We have not introduced andy predators into the tank at least not on purpose. We also noticed 2 of our 5 fairly large turbo snails were killed and eaten. All that was left was the shell.

Last night at about 3 am I was looking into my tank with a flashlight after it had been off for a while and noticed a LARGE flat slug like creature slithering across the rock. It was brown and spotted all over like a leopard. It reminded me of a super flat slug without a shell. Upon doing some research on the web I found out it was a 2" long x 1.5" wide Pericelis sp. or Polyclad Flatworm. Apparently they are known to eat snails, mollusks, Clams and so on. I am almost 100% sure this is the culprit.

Does anyone have any experience with these?
Does anyone have pics they can share?
Ill try and get some pics of this guy. It is really fast and evasive when touched by light.

Here is a link for reference. This is what mine looks like...
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_browseimgs_invertebrate _sci&enlarge=4444+4444+0907+0253

[SoLiD]

you got me.

[Regric25]

I posted a link of what it looks like. Weird looking critter...

[tebstan]

Was the whole body completely flat? Any visible gills/eyes/feathery bits? Could be some type of nudibranch, there's bunches that have spots. Some can be predatory after mollusks, too.

[Regric25]

I did read about that on the web but it looks IDENTICAL to the one in the link. It is without a doubt a Polyclad. I read it was rare in a home aquarium but im not sure.

[justahobby]

I'll put him in my biocube as a species only if you decide to get rid of him. I'd love watcing him attack a snail.

[tebstan]

Try to get some pics!
Doing an image search for that name showed some pretty cool looking critters... and some pretty nasty ones.

How big is it? One pic showed a palm sized one cruising across a guy's hand (gag).

I have a heck of a time getting macro shots of little critters like this. I took about 100 shots of a snail trying to get it's mouth/teeth in focus.

[justahobby]

http://www.nre.unh.edu/faculty/litvaitis/Wranglers/FWweb.jpg

Gotta love photoshop

[Regric25]

I'll put him in my biocube as a species only if you decide to get rid of him. I'd love watcing him attack a snail.

I havent decided if I should get rid of him or not. If I do Ill be sure to let you know. :) BTW what would you use as a CUC if you took em?

[justahobby]

I don't use a CUC. That's why I offered lol. It would be interesting to find out how many it eats per day, week, etc.

[Regric25]

Im not sure. There are alot of shells on the bottom of my tank and we dont see nearly as many stomatella snails as before. I estimate 1 per week maybe 2.

[Regric25]

Ill tell you what Justin, if I catch em without having to tear down my tank ill give him to you. I thought about (and this sounds terrible:sick:) taking a small snail and super glueing it upside down on a rock as "bait". If it works ill get video of it and catch it for ya. :bigsmile:

[justahobby]

Edit: double post

[justahobby]

Hahaha, video would be awesome. If you don't do it, I would have my brother bring his camera over. Sorry to hear about it wiping out your stomatellas though. They will eventually regain their populations. If I look I can see them spawning almost every night in my tank. I will try capturing some from my 58 gal. to trade with you. Lmk what kind of coral you have and I'll give you some coral as well.

[Regric25]

Awesome! I have a Samsung FULL HD Camcorder with an awesome macro mode and it gets the smallest things. Ill also get some still shots with my DSLR. I have to be fast though because it HATES light. As soon as it detects light it hides in the rockwork. Ill ambush it with the PCs and start video taping it while eating lol.

I have all LPS and softies. Im waiting on my 100g rimless to get here and when it does im going to get SPS also. We will work something out. :)

I also found an awesome link on Polyclads. Check it out. http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/flatintr.htm (http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/flatintr.htm)

[justahobby]

LOL, was already reading that website. It has great info. The below excerpt boggled my mind a little bit :

http://www.polyclads.net/

As flatworms are lacking respiratory organs and blood, they are dependent on their epidermis for oxygen supply. Oxygen passively diffuses to all body regions, thus making a high surface to volume ratio necessary in these animals......................Like other flatworms, polyclads possess likely totipotent stem cells (http://www.springerlink.com/content/dj81841k74555765/fulltext.pdf) even as adults - combined with a clear spiral cleavage pattern and a well-developed regeneration capacity (http://www.uibk.ac.at/zoology/regeneration) makes polyclads excellent models for stem cell research (http://www.uibk.ac.at/zoology/staff/egger) from embryo to adult.

[justahobby]

Love really does hurt for these guys:
(an excerpt on sexual reproduction)
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/Introduction09.html (http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/%7Ebu6/Introduction09.html)

They then try to stab each other anywhere, sometimes causing considerable damage to their partner. Worms with wounds were able to heal within 24 hours. When one animal is successful in penetrating the other, it holds on with its stylet embedded in the epidermis of its partner for several minutes. During that time, spermatozoa are injected into the partner (upper image, right) . http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/%7Ebu6/Mate_1.jpg

[justahobby]

Unless you are really from California, someone else had the exact same finding today:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/id/anyone-know-what-85147.html

[Regric25]

That sounds VERY painful! But they have a SUPER fast healing time of only 24 hrs. Thats crazy!

[Regric25]

Unless you are really from California, someone else had the exact same finding today:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/id/anyone-know-what-85147.html
Nope Im from right here is SA. Its crazy that someone else found one. Maybe they are more common than we think. Maybe they are in everyones reef tank and they planned a worldwide assult on ALL snails lol. I hope my little plan on catching it works. I cant do it until this weekend because ill have to stay up all night to keep an eye on my darkened tank.

[justahobby]

Awesome, I am excited. Be careful handling it. They are known to carry this toxin:
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~bu6/Introduction08.html


Tetrodotoxin is a non-protein organic compound (aminoperhydroquinazoline) and one of the strongest paralytic toxins known today. ............Tetrodotoxin and its precursors have been found in high concentrations in mucus

[Regric25]

I wonder if it will make my fingers numb????? ill set out a flat rock and glue the snail to it and when he is on it ill pick up the whole rock and put it in a small tub. Ill wear gloves just i case.

Here is something kinda scary!

"The Material Safety Data Sheet (http://www.maast.org/wiki/Material_Safety_Data_Sheet) for tetrodotoxin lists the oral median lethal dose (http://www.maast.org/wiki/Median_lethal_dose) (LD50) for mice as 334 μg per kg.[21] (http://www.maast.org/forums/#cite_note-20) Assuming that the lethal dose for humans is similar, 25 milligrams (0.000881 oz) of tetrodotoxin would be expected to kill a 75 kg (170 lb) person. The amount needed to reach a lethal dose by injection is much smaller, 8 μg per kg,[22] (http://www.maast.org/forums/#cite_note-21) or a little over one-half milligram (0.00002 oz) per person."

Ill be using Tongs lol

[Regric25]

I caught it! It's in one of my some old baby bottles floating in my tank. It is damaged but it seems fine. They are known for healing very fast so im pretty sure it will survive. I didnt realize just how delicate these are. I also think it will allow its self to seperate to escape. I got some video of it and ill post the link or embed it when I get it uploaded. Until then here is a picture I took of it.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n269/REGRIC252006/forsale006.jpg

[tebstan]

That's awesome! How big is it? How'd you catch it, the snail bait?

[Regric25]

That's awesome! How big is it? How'd you catch it, the snail bait?

LOL no I turned the light off and about an hour later i used the flashlight to check to see if it was there and when I saw it crawling on a rock I pulled the rock out and grabbed it with tongs. Im glad I did not have to sacrifice a snail to catch this sucker.:)

Here is the video in HD


W3knOLAk4us

[justahobby]

Great video. Maybe I will get lucky and he will release his damaged part to create a second polyclad :D

[Regric25]

That'll be cool! 2 for 1 special. lol

[Europhyllia]

Wow. Congrats Justin (poor snails - eek). It's beautiful though!

[justahobby]

Thanks Karon :wink_smile: LOL

I agree, it is very pretty. I can't wait to watch it eat its first meal.

[justahobby]

It could almost pass for the mouth of a clam

[Europhyllia]

You're slow Justin. I fixed the typo about 40 minutes before you responded ;)

[saweasel]

Here is a pic of the flat worm i caught in my 75.

[Regric25]

What did you do with it?

[justahobby]

That is a pretty one. Was it out with the day lights on? I'm scared to ask, what did you do with it?

[Regric25]

Judging by the closed Zoa Polyps it looks like he used the flash from his camera to catch it

[saweasel]

This pic as you guessed was taken at night. Never saw him with the lights on. He was heading towards the snail. He killed it as he did most of my snails. I was finally able to siphon him out and flushed him. The first time I tore a good chuck of him but he recovered and started eating again. Will post a few more pics from the office tomorrow.

[tebstan]

This hobby never fails to amaze me with things that are awful nasty and crazy beautiful at the same time.

[Regric25]

Well Justin it is yours now lol. Imagine that! Justin is putting it in a species only tank and going to feed it snails lmao! You know with all the empty shells you are going to get you can sell them to a LFS for hermit crab homes!

[Europhyllia]

This hobby never fails to amaze me with things that are awful nasty and crazy beautiful at the same time.
I know! I am kinda scared what I'll find when I turn on the room light and look in the tank at night...

[SKNR]

DUDE!!! You caught it!!! That is some fancy fishing there my friend!!

[justahobby]

Well Justin it is yours now lol. Imagine that! Justin is putting it in a species only tank and going to feed it snails lmao! You know with all the empty shells you are going to get you can sell them to a LFS for hermit crab homes!


I wanted something unique in the tank and was waiting for the right idea. Well, this isn't something you see in your local fish store :bigsmile: This guy will have me huddled up against the glass with flashlight in hand. :thumbs_up:

[Regric25]

DUDE!!! You caught it!!! That is some fancy fishing there my friend!!
Thanks Richard! How are the Zoas?

[Regric25]

Now that you have it you should keep me/us updated on its progress!

[justahobby]

I'm going to open a new thread on it's progress. I am pretty beat tonight, and still working. I might get to it tomorrow. This will end up being a great reference tool for others. I have searched and you appear to have to species dead on. Good googling Rick! :thumbs_up:

[justahobby]

After not seeing this guy for almost a year to date, I was taking out rocks for aiptasia removal and came across him! Super stocked he is still alive and well.

[allan]

I've pulled two of these out of my tank.

[justahobby]

And here I've been blaming my pistol shrimp for cleaning out all the dwarf planaxis I stick in there. They reproduced like crazy in my 58g... will have to think of something else to do since I'm tearing that tank down.