Flatworm ID

[ming]

Anybody know what kind of flatworm this is?
I found it crawling on my green polyp toadstool base. It moves pretty quick for a flatworm.. I would say as fast as a stomatella. Its about 1/2" long.
It appears sensitive to light which is why it moved so fast when my flashlight shined on it and what made me see it.

 

[noodleman]

i had one of those in my tank too i cornered it into a rock and tried to fw dip it out but fail....never seen it again in my tank thro :scratchch

 

[crox99]

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...um=1&hl=en&rls=DELA,DELA:2005-51,DELA:en&sa=N

Almost all the way down it looks like the one you have. Do you have any clams?

 

[ming]

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...um=1&hl=en&rls=DELA,DELA:2005-51,DELA:en&sa=N

Almost all the way down it looks like the one you have. Do you have any clams?

Looks like a match.
I do have clams, but I'll keep a close eye on them now.

 

[Davidl919]

I would give this site a look after flipping through 6 pages I gave up but found some similar looking guys. You do the other 14+ pages. Here

 

[emmanuel]

How do you catch one of those I saw part of one in my tank a couple of years ago but thought I was seeing things cause a minute later when I got the flashlight it was gone now I know I have it cause the other day my harlequin shrimp had a starfish upside down by an unmovable rock and that polyclad flatworm wrapped around part of the star and was eating it but when I tried to get it it quickly disapeared under the rock .Is there anyone that ever trapped one of these ?

 

[cybermeez]

I had one of these and it lived for years. I didn't have clams and since it didn't starve, mine clearly wasn't a clamivore. :eat:

 

[emmanuel]

I had clams for years with no problems then a year ago at the swap I bought 2 clams and didnt qt put them in my tank they died then the clams i had for years died and any other clam i got would just die after a couple of weeks . No more clams for me unless this thing is caught then I might try another clam

 

[cybermeez]

Here are a couple of great sites for flatworm IDing:

Marine Flatworms of the World
The Seaslug Forum (this one is also a great nudibranch ID site)

 

[yiliyang]

The best way to catch that worm is with your trusty turkey baster. You can suck him right in. I seen mine eat a snail that fell off the rock. I sucked the worm in the baster and in the toilet it went. The snail died shortly after, I suspect it was from toxins from the worm, but I am not positive.

Yili

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Hi ming ;-)

Have a look at this Phrikocerus one from the Caribbean

and here is another site to check

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[Bob 1000]

Great pic Ming.. I will watch out for these now..

 

[cybermeez]

I sucked the worm in the baster and in the toilet it went.

Flushing anything is a bad idea, whether it's alive or dead. Everything sent down the drain (toilet, sink or otherwise) eventually ends up in the ocean. Whether it be pathogens, parasites or non-native species all can be spread into local waterways this way. If you must dispose of something put it in the garbage instead and it will end up safely land-locked at the dump.

 

[melev]

That type of flatworm is a mollusc eater. It will eat a clam if given the opportunity, but is happy to devour snails just as well. The best way I've found to remove them is to siphon them out with 1" tubing. Then are often found hiding in overflows.
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/lg_flatworm.html

 

[rfc]

That type of flatworm is a mollusc eater. It will eat a clam if given the opportunity, but is happy to devour snails just as well. The best way I've found to remove them is to siphon them out with 1" tubing. Then are often found hiding in overflows.
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/lg_flatworm.html

I just found the same exact looking flatworm munching last night on my 2.5 year old crocea. I am so pissed !

I remember seeing him 2 years ago crawling on the back glass. I thought it was a detris eater. Now I know why I have had to replace my snail population every 3 months. In the past 8 weeks I have lost 2 mexican turbos, 4 astrea, 1 narcissus snail.


I took out the rock and clam with the flatworm still attached and stuck it in the sink under running hot water. I should have gotten out my small torch and fried the fker.

Do these flatworms attack fish. My 2 year old firefish disappeared last week. It use to spend 20 hours a day in a tiny hole with a dime sized opening.

 

[melev]

I doubt it, but if the fish was dead and it happened to be nearby, it might decide to make a meal of it.