Critter ID Help Please - I don't know how to google for this

[phippsj]

Annalisa just saw this crawling inside our tank. I pulled it out and quarantined it until I know what it is. Problem is, I really don't know how to describe this which hinders my ability to google and discover :)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-jared

86958693869186928694

[Europhyllia]

nudibranch
do you have any soft corals with similar coloring?
there are zoa eating nudis, gorgo eating nudis, leather eating nudis, etc.
To find out what they are eating look for something that is similar to the little critter (probably some kind of yellow soft coral)

[ZeroHour]

Definitely a nudibranch...Throw him under an actinic and if it glows its most likely eating a bright coral or zoa. This was what I found with the ones I had back in Colorado.

[ramsey]

I've been picking them off my zoa's for a couple of weeks. You'll know they're on your zoa's because your zoas will be closed up. They're hard to see because they often change color to blend in with whatever they're eating. Mine were eating a bam-bam zoa and they were bright orange. Pretty cool looking actually.

[BIGBIRD123]

Not so cool when they change from Orange to Purple...they finished the Bam-Bams...:)

[phippsj]

Thanks all. We have had some zoas that kept closing up and I could not figure it out. So, flat worms and nudibranchs at the same time... fun!

[stoneroller]

They look like zoa eating nudies to me. You must kill them all if you wish to keep zoanthids. Dip your zoas in RO water (make them close up first) for a minute or so and the nudis will disintegrate but... you will need to inspect each polyp for a spiral shaped string of nudi eggs, pick those off with tweezers. I treat my zoas before placing them in the tank to prevent nudis from getting in my main reef. Good luck and act quick.