Leopardy spotted snot in my live rock????

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sarsim9697

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 6, 2010
Messages
36
Location
Florida
This stuff is like a leopard blob almost as big as the palm of my hand. They come out only when the lights are off and look like snot moving very flatly accross the surface of the live rock. If they find food, they envelope it completely, digest on the spot, then move on. I fed one a piece of shrimp and it nearly took over my tweezers. I believe they come from what I can only describe as spider web-like nests in the roch with visible holes for entry and exit. These things are FANTASTIC but I'm worried that they might get too big and eat everything in my tank.

Has anyone had one of these before? Are they common? What are they? Where do they come from? What do they eat?

I have been having trouble maintaining my PH at 8.2; it seems to want to stay right at 7.8 and recently lost a rather large arrow crab. I mean literally lost him; haven't seen him in days. He was there one day and gone the next. (Not too many places to hide and he's big so he was contantly eating!) Wondering if he was a victim of the mystery snot monsters.

I'm giving lots of detail because there is no way I can post a picture. They disappears when the lights are on and camera won't work without lights on. Do your best experts. I'm dying to know. ha ha
 
What kind of camera do you have? do you have a tripod? you might be able to get pics if they don't move too fast, even with the lights off, but you'll need a tripod for sure...
 
I do not have a tripod or even a decent camera. It is not like the picture. If you take all the hard stuff off of a snail and just leave the flat slimy part that moves them, you'd be closer. This stuff moves over surfaces like a snail but is entirely flat. It looks like snot gliding over the live rock. It has a nice leopard pattern on the top surface, which is really the only reason I saw it in the first place. There are no appendages or anything it just glides over the surface until it finds food and then it envelpoes the food. It only responds to food and light. They are really hard to see even if you are trying bc they are so well marked and shy. If I put a piece of shrimp in the rock, it comes out within minutes as long as the lights are off. Nothing else seems to bother it. It is huge. What I thought were multiples were actually just part of one great big thing. I put several pieces of food in different places and it extended itself to get all of them. I'm pretty sure if a tennis ball was a food item, it could handle it. It is alarmingly large; I'm going to have to stop feeding it. :facepalm:
 
It is really cool. I am going to try to get a video of it on YouTube. I'm hoping my phone will take better video than pics. :) The only thing not cool about it is the size. I'm afraid it will eat my firefish and corals.

I also have two mammoth aiptasias (with heads the size of golf balls) so maybe there's a pattern developing. It is some kind of invert and man if it isn't the freakiest thing I've seen since I started reefing. Visions of the blob come to mind...ha ha!

Maybe it is something that is supposed to be small but has just mutated into a larger speciment in my system. Think of small inversts that fit and maybe we can figure it out. I'll paste the YouTube video shortly.
 
5645248520_edd30c2993_z_d.jpg


what about this? It's supposedly a Leapord Sea Hare, found it on flicker...
 
^^ I agree it sounds like a flatworm of some kind. I've never seen one as big as urs but have heard they can get that big. When u say it's like snot, is it the same color?
 
OMG that's it! YOU ARE AWESOME! I'll look him up! I'm surprised to see this one out in the open and being held. I guess I'll have to rethink my blob scenario. ha ha The one in the pick is good sized but mine is bigger. haha

Thanks for all your help. I couldn't find anything. That's fantastic. I've never heard of a nudibranch as a hitchhiker, though. I thought they were pretty delicate. Awesome. I guess that explains what happened to my arrow crab. He must have died on his own and the Nudi took care of it.

I'm still going to upload the video just so you can see how big he is. :)

Thanks again:thanks:
 
Upon further investigation, I'm not sure because the sea hares/nudibranches seem to be thicker and have more substance to them while the thing I have is almost like a living, moving liquid. It also has quite the appetite for MEATY foods. Nudibranches tend to be herbivores (if I am not mistaken) and it has no determinable rhinophores or appendages. These pics are almost EXACTLY like the thing I have only like I said, less dense and no appendages. Still working on the video. :)
 
It is a creamy color with leopard spots like the pictures but no appendages. I'll look up flatworms and see if any of those match.
 
No luck on the video either. No light was too dark and a flash light on the subject whited him/her out. It just looked like a shady section on the rock with absolutely no definition. Great footage of my pepermint shrimp, tho. Sorry. I'll have to wait a couple days before I try again. I'll have someone else shoot the video while I try to get it to take over my tweezers again. We are getting closer. If you just picture a more liquid-like version of the leopard hare with no rhinophores and that is what I have. Hope that helps. I'll keep trying. :)
 
Thanks Jenna! That is the closest I have seen so far. I wish I could get decent pics for you. I appreciate your insight. :)
 
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