hitchhikers on new rock!

widowmaker

widowmaker

Member
got my first 200#s of rock (of a 400# shipment) in today. pulled it from the bag and inspected it for critters. these are what i got, mostly. as i expected, got some good things and some bad. i think the donkey dung is ok to have, and if the red crabs are porcelain, they are good too. but then i pick off several whelks and a hand full of gorilla grabs too. i think i missed several whelks and maybe one gorilla. anybody know how to get rid of them if they make it through the cycle?
ps, if anybody wants a 3" gorilla crab, i got him....gladly give up free of charge. hehe




 
widowmaker

widowmaker

Member
well.....after looking around, maybe that aint a donkey dung cucumber. anybody got any ideas? of yea that 2nd gorilla is in a 1 cup, measuring cup......just for reference.
 
richarl5

richarl5

Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
wow :scared: never seen so many hitchhickers on new live rock before.
Yeah! Normally I just see sponges, glass anemones (boo), feather dusters, bristle worms, and serpent stars...
I'd hate to get a gorilla crab!! :scared:
 
widowmaker

widowmaker

Member
yea.....the first piece of rock i had had 4 or 5 of those red (maybe porcelians), 3 or 4 of the gorilla's and a handfull of the whelks. all the rest of the shipment was pretty clean. i just hate i missed a couple whelks, and i think a gorilla....he was deep in a hole. anybody got ideas on how to capture the whelks and the gorillas. i think i'll just pull of the whelks as i see them, but i was hoping for a more direct approach.
 
krazekajin

krazekajin

Active Member
those reds are not porcelians. Thier pincers are too sharp. Porcelians have a neat feathery appendage that they filter food to thier mouth with.
 
krazekajin

krazekajin

Active Member
With the welks, I think they are predatory which means you might could put a chunk of meat on the sandbed and when they all converge to eat it you could get them all at once or at least more than one.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
wow :scared: never seen so many hitchhickers on new live rock before.
i got 2 boxes directly from the ocean:
about 15 urchins
about 20 stars
about 15 crabs (5 gorilla)
5-10 whelks (and i keep finding more)
rock anenomes (last count over 25)
sponges, feather dusters, slimes, 1 HUGE clam fused with the live rock
2 pistol shrimp
1 mantis shrimp.
 
catawaba

catawaba

Active Member
I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack....can someone tell me how to differentiate a whelk from a nassarius snail by appearance?
THANKS
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
yes. i'll look it up, but a whelk has a black snout compared to a white snout, plus nasarrious snails have a long white tail to them where the whelks i have have a short black body.
also, and i wish i had know previously, bumble bee snails are whelks.
 
widowmaker

widowmaker

Member
i also think that whelks have trunk type extentions that come out of the front, as well. i think i read that somewhere.
you may be right. the red crabs might be mythrax.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by widowmaker
i also think that whelks have trunk type extentions that come out of the front, as well. i think i read that somewhere.
you may be right. the red crabs might be mythrax.

nassarius snails have a nose coming out as well. they are very similiar until you put them next to each other. the one thing i notice that is a huge difference is the tail. whelks dont seem to have one.
 
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