What on earth is this thing??

[richthereefer]

Hi guys I spotted this on my hammer coral base it has moved so know it's living is it a kind of clam or something similar..looks like a moth!!
Cheers

 

[dingusplease]

Looks a bit like a feather duster. Try touching it, if it retracts it's prob a type of worm, like a f.d.

 

[richthereefer]

I thought a f.d at first but I've seen it when it's not been so close to the flesh of my hammer and it's wafer shaped and my copperband leaves it be and he eats everything like that like the clam I had growing in my Aussie torch the bugger! Lol

 

[dingusplease]

Hmm... Sorry I'm not much of an expert on clams. Maybe someone else will chime in with an opinion

 

[herp_mommy]

those look like cucumber tentacles to me.

 

[Bill0181]

Looks like a bristle worm crawling around is it stationary?

 

[herp_mommy]

Check out videos on cucumbers feeding with their tentacles. If the behavior and movement is the same, you've got a cucumber. They're generally reef safe.

 

[richthereefer]

It's not a cucumber or a bristle worm I have a couple of bristles and the only way I can describe what it looks like is a moth wing furry ish I have seen it a few weeks ago before it latched itself to the coral itself I'm really stumped on this one!

 

[herp_mommy]

Can you draw an outline of what you're describing then? It may help with ID.

 

[richthereefer]

terrible drawing I know but that's the basic shape and it's flat too

 

[54seaweed]

looks like aiptasia to me

 

[dragonfisher33]

doesn't look like an aiptasia. some filter feeder for sure though

 

[Dav3]

Not aiptasia. Based on the radiating lines it looks like some sort of clam like shell.

 

[richthereefer]

Yeah I was thinking along the lines of a clam of some sort this one has very small "hairs" growing off it like a fuzzy look is this normal?

 

[Dav3]

Thinking it is probably a type of scallop.

 

[richthereefer]

Think we're getting somewhere I'm gonna try remove it tomorrow when I move my duncan and get a closer look will update pic. Thanks for the help

 

[Sniperhank]

It isn't hurting anything. Why remove it. Let it go and see what comes out of it.

 

[richthereefer]

I did think that it just seems to have really bedded in to my hammer flesh and don't know if that could cause my hammer harm long term?

 

[Sniperhank]

Well at this time there isn't any irritation on the hammers end, so I wouldn't be worried about it.