another unknown hitchhiker for you guys

whysohigh

Member
i dont know if i have 2 of these and one has been hiding since i noticed the second, or if the first one just relocated. heres what i got, it doesnt seem to matter if its day or night, out of a barely noticeable hole in a rock comes this little tentacle. first it comes out only about a 1/4 inch like its feeling around, then it comes out about 2 more inches, its clear or white in color and its structure reminds me almost of a feather. once its out that far it just waves in the current unless disturbed then it retracts into the rock. ive attached a simple drawing of what i am seeing because it is too small to catch with a camera.
 

whysohigh

Member
i have a brittle star, so i know its not that, its much thinner and a little longer than a brittle star arm, its almost like a human hair, in fact i thought it was a hair until i tried to get it out of there and it retracted into the rock.
 

whysohigh

Member
3 inches at the most, the way it moves in the current and how incredibly thin it is makes me think its some sort of worm or a feeding tentacle of something ive never seen. everytime i try to grab it the thing disappears into the rock.
 

cranberry

Active Member
I moved a little rock closer and they all "ran" inside. When they come out again, I'll have a little visual for ya.
 

whysohigh

Member
sounds like your on the right track, ive been searching google images for hydroids, i found some close but not quite exactly the same, but you seem to know what im talkning about, thank you, i really appreciate you guys and this site, its not every day you can get a stranger to go out of their way to help someone they dont even know.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Sorry... I feel asleep. I couldn't see any good pictures either of what I was talking about. I promise tonight, when the light comes on, to grab a pic/video.
 

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by whysohigh
http:///forum/post/3290934
i have a brittle star, so i know its not that, its much thinner and a little longer than a brittle star arm, its almost like a human hair, in fact i thought it was a hair until i tried to get it out of there and it retracted into the rock.
There are different sizes of brittle stars and some are really tiny and thin.
 

whysohigh

Member
now ive got about 5 of them so far. are they gonna keep spreading? are they a danger to anything, theres one right by my galaxy coral?
 

whysohigh

Member
ok these things are mulitiplying like crazy, i can see about 15 of them is there a way to get rid of these? anyone?
 

whysohigh

Member
thanks, good thing you said that my galaxy is right under a nest of these guys. will joes juice work, i have some of that.
 

swfishy

Administrator
Staff member
It looks to me like you have micro stars. They are small starfish- part of the janitorial team. There will be lots of them, and their arms come out when triggered by a food source.
 
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