Eel in live rock!!

[holacanthus]

Whats the most unusual find anyone has ever found in there live rock???? I just got 150lbs of live rock from the gulf from a buddy of mine strait out of the ocean from Tampa Bay saltwater, but there was this one rock with tons of holes in it! Last night upon observine the 180 im using for curing I found a 6 inch what I believe to be green moray or giant moray! If this is indeed what it is it will go back to the ocean from where it came but this is a surprising find! <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />

 

[grouperhead]

Are you sure it's an eel? I believe most eels begin life in a larval form, but I'm not sure at what size they begin their metamorphasis. If it is an eel, and you keep it for any amount of time, DO NOT release it back into the wild. This can introduce new diseases and parasites to the wild. Bo

 

[ciguatera]

I agree with Grouperhead on both parts of his post. After hatching, eels take on a larval form called a Leptocephalus. These are pelagic and in some cases won't settle into the reef to metamorphose for up to 3 years. In most Gymnothorax species, Leptocaphali will attain 5 inches plus before they change into the adult. With the green or giant moray, Leptocephali are much larger. (a meter or more) Some of this length may be absorbed during metamorphosis, but if your critter is in fact an eel, it is doubtful to be a green or giant moray. What ever it turns out to be, sell/give it to a LFS or someone who has a marine tank rather than releasing it back into the ocean... (sorry if i get too technical with these posts, I'm working on a term paper for a zol class and the writing kind of carries over)

 

[striker]

My lr from gulfview contained 2 urchins, snails, worms, cucumbers, clams, crabs, sponges, sea-squirts, a gorgonian, a small open brain, feather dusters and several others that I've yet to identify. The strangest hitcher I've seen on this board was an octopus someone found in their tank. Now that would be a suprise!

 

[ciguatera]

Thats some great LR striker! Was it cured or uncured? ... i think the strangest thing to come out of any of my LR was some caulerpa...

 

[topfish2]

what do these larval forms look like?