A new hitcher. Please Help ID.

[Anonymous]

This is the 3rd time I have seen this guy in my tank. The last time he is in the 1st photo. He was about 3 MM at the time. Now he is 3/8 inch long from tip to tip. He moves on the glass like those sticky things we used to throw against the wall as a kid and they would kind of flop down the wall. lol. It is a reef tank that has been established for about 80 days. Has LR and a flame angel and cleaner shrimp in it. Water parameters are all good to go. Tank is doing great lots of pods and corraline is growing on all rocks. I got a bunch of different rock from different places and have had a ton of critters, most of which I can ID but this one has me stumped. Please help.

 

[Anonymous]

Here is the latest photo. The first pic was about a month and a half ago. He it is in all its glory last night. I apologize for the photo quality but I don't have a good macro lense so I am using a mag glass from my kids bug collection lol.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like a Hydroid to me.

 

[Anonymous]

Almost certainly a cnidarian of some sort. So in this photo, are the tentacles stuck to the glass or in the water? Do they move independently or are they simply waving in the current like an anemone?

 

[Anonymous]

They are stuck to the glass and when it moves its legs move independently.

 

[Anonymous]

It might be a spaghetti worm. Possibly. It's really hard to see because it's so small.

 

[Anonymous]

I am really not sure what it might be. I have some experience with tanks and have seen quite a few things in my tanks to include jellies, but this is like nothing I have seen before. It can move about a foot in a minute or two. But the best way to describe how it moves is just like the toys we used when we were kids that you threw against a wall and they would "Walk" down the wall by gravity lol. But it goes up and down. Weirdest thing.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I'd have to agree that it's some type of cnidarian as Matt pointed out. The problem is, that it's in it's mudusa stage, and with the cnidarian family numbering in the 10-15,000 range, it's pretty hard to nail it down to an exact ID. The first pic clearly shows a hydroid jelly. Typically those show up and disappear just as quickly. Yours is apparently enjoying his surroundings and maturing. Keep snapping pics of it as it matures. Whether or not it completes the medusoid stage is what yet remains to be seen. Odds are it won't - if it doesn't then you have a Hydroazoan cnidarian. ( more common) If it does detach and floats off then you have a Scyphoza. It might be worth it to scoop it out and put it in QT to see what it does.