Feather duster

[Anonymous]

Amazing...this tank has been set up for 5 months, and this emerged. Any guess as to what type?
Thanks!
~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

A dud?

 

[Anonymous]

It's actually one of the better shots. Its pretty far away from the glass, so I tried my best to get the shot. Its got a hard base, so I'm thinking it's some kind of worm, and the top is feathery, and kind of wisps in the current. It does retract into the base as well.
HTHs,
~wings~

 

[hdtran]

It looks like a feather duster (sabellid? John Brandt, where are you?) nestled in amongst the Briareum (or is it Pachyclavularia?)

 

[Anonymous]

Hi HD,
You're right about the Pachyclavularia... it was sold to me with the common name of "Green Star Polyp". Thanks for the responses!
~wings~

 

[Anonymous]

Is it occurring singly? It appears to have "two" heads, reminding me of the Horseshoe feather duster (I believe wetwebmedia's practically a Googlewhack on that one.. going by genus and species), but I can't remember if they've got a calcareous tube or not.

 

[Anonymous]

It has only 1 head, however, it looks like it's growing as if the head is "dented", appearing to look like two.
~wings~

 

[John_Brandt]

That it has a calcareous tube puts it in the family Serpulidae. I suspect that it is Pomatostegus sp.

 

[Anonymous]

Um.. yep, that's what I said. I give you, by common nomenclature, the Horseshoe worm.

Pomatostegus stellatus, the Star Horseshoe Worm, family Serpulidae. 1-1 1/2". Tropical West Atlantic. U to wing-shaped crowns whose radioles can be variable, but are covered by an operculum which lacks spikes and is circular in shape. Typically bored into living coral as here in Cozumel.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you all!
Good job seamaiden!
~wing~

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, I'm not saying that's the exact species. There is a relative dearth of information on the genus as a whole (key word here being "relative"). It's just what we have listed on WWM, so it's what I went with since I know exactly where to look.

I REALLY wish there were sites comparable to fishbase.org for various inverts, et al.

John was able to nail the family and genus far better than I, I simply don't have all that stuff stored in my head.

And now for something completely different.......