hitch hiker

[catchndolphn]

I keep noticing a small "tentacle like" thing reaching out of my rock. i looked closer today and got a better view. it is white and has appendages sticking out from it all down each side. any ideas?? spaghetti worm mabye?

 

[Fluff]

spaghetti worm mabye?

That would be my guess as well.

 

[catchndolphn]

i did a little searching through pictures online, and it looks kinda like a picture of nereis succinea i found. not sure though, only a few centimeters long and i never see a true head to it. I have had several unexplained deaths in my tank which i thought was a mantis shrimp which i never found. these/this worm doesnt seem to move mutch and hangs out at the top of my live rock. should i try to remove them to be safe?

 

[Fluff]

I wouldn't be to hasty. In your original post it sounds like there are multiple appendages. These would be for gathering food. Unless I'm mistaken, the nereis succinea doesn't hunt in this way but instead uses a proboscis/jaw.

Here is an article on nereis succinea.
http://www.calacademy.org/research/izg/SFBay2K/Neanthes succinea.htm

Any chance you could get a photo?

 

[catchndolphn]

I can try im not to good at taking pictures of aquarium yet, its alot harder to get a good quality picture of something small then i thought.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Could it be an arm of a baby sea star/brittle star? I've got one in my tank that hides in holes and waves a couple arms out now and then. Each arm has little "hairs" running down both sides. Kinda like this, but smaller...

 

[catchndolphn]

to tell you the truth thats almost exactly what it looks like. it doesnt seem to move around though, stays in one spot, but usually during feeding ill see one comming out of the rock.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Mine seems to hang out in one place for a couple weeks at a time, then just up and moves. For a while, I thought something gobbled it up. But then he/she showed up on the other side of the aquarium in a different hole. Right now, he's "missing" again!

Look where you normally see the "arms" just after the lights go out. Bet you'll see more of it if you're patient.