Please Identify

Luvthekeys

Member
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[/URL][/IMG] It is the object middle right that looks like a olive green leathery cone and base.

Also I have noticed a number of what appear to be baby shrimp. They are small dark in color and hang out where I can not get a good look at them or take a photo. I can see a pair of what appears to be antenna hence my thinking they are baby shrimp. If they are I am hoping they are not baby Mantis Shrimp. If they are I would like to have something eat them when I finally get some invertebrates and fish.

Sorry for double posting of photo.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

They are amphipods. They do look just like little baby shrimp when they swim, but they are a sea bug that comes on live rock. Amphipods and copepods are what your fish nip at the rocks all day trying to eat. They are part of the reason we buy live rock.
 

bang guy

Moderator
I see what looks to be some type of sponge as well as something resembling half of a Turkey Wing Clam. Not really sure what I'm looking at though..

The "baby shrimp" sound a lot like Gammarus Amphipods.
 

Luvthekeys

Member
Thanks I found a article on hitchhikers after I posted this message but they look like they are a quarter inch long which I thought was kind of large for an Amphipods. Any idea on the object in photo?

Bang Guy if we are looking at the same half shell it is slightly below and to the left. Also the cone in the middle closes at times.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
LOL...Your pictures are really fuzzy...I went by what you described more then anything I could see. Try backing away from the tank to let the camera focus, on a computer you can usually crop a section and get a fairly good picture of tiny things on the rocks. I am no photographer, and I have a cheap digital camera...I have taken my share of fuzzy photos trying to get folks to see what I was seeing.

Adult amphipods are huge compared to copepods, they just look like dots to me. 1/4 inch is about right. If there are adults, they will have babies...that means you got some good live rock.
 

Luvthekeys

Member
I went on Bang Guys suggestion and I found some sites and photos of sponges. There were several similiar to what I was referring to. I will put it down as a sponge. As far as the other shrimp or amphipods I can see a fan type shape at the end of their antenna. I have not seen them swim but have a tendency to stay in the same general area of my dry rock instead of live rock. Maybe because it is white.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I went on Bang Guys suggestion and I found some sites and photos of sponges. There were several similiar to what I was referring to. I will put it down as a sponge. As far as the other shrimp or amphipods I can see a fan type shape at the end of their antenna. I have not seen them swim but have a tendency to stay in the same general area of my dry rock instead of live rock. Maybe because it is white.
Amphipods are easily identified by their typical "C" shaped bodies, and they can reach nearly a half inch in length. They don't swim unless they have to, such as escaping a predator. They're probably on the dry rock as this is where most of your new algae growth is likely to be taking place. If you were to shine a flashlight in tank after the lights have been out for awhile, and the room is dark, you'll probably see quite a few of them. A small flashlight with a red lens or a red balloon stretched over the lens won't spook them like white light does...
 
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