??Filament coming from leather??

[spanky]

One of my leathers has a single filament, like fishing line, extending away from it. It's almost translucent, with a single strand that has groups of side-strands, in groups of three, about every two inches. The thread is now about six or seven inches long, waving in the current. What is it? :notsure:

 

[tizzo]

Probably a mucous thread cast out by a vermetid snail.

 

[bang guy]

My guess would be a sessile Ctenophore. Try a web search.

 

[spanky]

Well, either of you could be right, but I have "Googled" both, found some neat links, learned a lot, and found nothing that looks quite like what I'm seeing. Of course, there are so many species, it's going to take a long time to work through them all.
I appreciate the tips.
Y'all might enjoy this video link from the Montery Bay Aquarium:
http://www.mbayaq.org/video/video_snailnet_feeding_qt.asp

 

[spanky]

So...I just checked out the tank and the leather had opened all the way up and flattened out. There were a half dozen of the long fibers waving in the current. My wife and I stared for a few minutes - and they started "fishing". They'd retract all the way and then re-deploy for a while. They appear to be coming from pores on the underside of the leather, but we can't trace the filaments back to individual pores. If there is another orgamism in there it's pretty well concealed...

 

[kdfrosty]

I believe some leathers do this at night?? Confirmation?