Black Mites on Zoas, smaller than Tisbe's

[THX1138CY]

I have Black Mites on my Zoa's, Zoas are closed and have been for over 3 weeks, spotted these guys on my Zoas this evening. They do not resemble Zoa spiders, way smaller and black. Any idea what they could be, they are too small to get a picture, longer than they are round and smaller than a Tisbe pod by more than half, they do hide when I shine a light on them.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I have Black Mites on my Zoa's, Zoas are closed and have been for over 3 weeks, spotted these guys on my Zoas this evening. They do not resemble Zoa spiders, way smaller and black. Any idea what they could be, they are too small to get a picture, longer than they are round and smaller than a Tisbe pod by more than half, they do hide when I shine a light on them.

Some type of nudibranch perhaps? Hopefully not zoa eating nudibranch.

 

[THX1138CY]

Some type of nudibranch perhaps? Hopefully not zoa eating nudibranch.

They move as fast as pods can, can Nudi's move like that?

 

[Crabs McJones]

They move as fast as pods can, can Nudi's move like that?

No, generally they crawl along like slugs. Not nudi then. #reefsquad any suggestions?

 

[DSC reef]

I'd look up indomolgus brevisetosus. A parasitic copepod known to infest zoas and palys

 

[Cnidoblast]

dipping the frag in Bayer (imidacloprid) would kill them

 

[Triggreef]

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/7/4/aafeature

I recently found some very tiny black mites on some zoas similar to what you describe. Was able to look at one under microscope and it very much looks like the one in this article it claims is a nuisance to nepthia.

 

[Triggreef]

they move extremely fast also and barely visibly to the naked eye. I only found them zooming in on my camera.