Critter (hitchhiker) ID (shrimp?) please

[AstroMelly]

Came in on a frogspawn frag.

Little dude seems a bit banged up in this video after the dip forced him out. He is in an observation box in the DT (can’t get out). Could grab another vid if need be. Looked a bit like a juvenile coral banded shrimp to me but I really don’t know!

 

[kevgib67]

I’m curious, @ISpeakForTheSeas ?

 

[ReeferHD]

hard to tell but possibly a frilly arrow crab or related species, they are observed in the wild "guarding" anemones, maybe yours has taken refuge in euphyllia?

 

[AstroMelly]

Second video from the observation container.



Btw thank you for the interest!

 

[kevgib67]

Second video from the observation container.

It seems to like doing jumping jacks!

 

[AstroMelly]

It seems to like doing jumping jacks!

Hehe yeah kind of looks like a spider when he curls up and is all puffed out!

 

[kevgib67]

Hehe yeah kind of looks like a spider when he curls up and is all puffed out!

I could watch it all day. If its not reef safe you’ll need to set up a species specific tank!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I can't see the body well enough to say for sure, but I'm strongly inclined to believe it's a sea spider (taxonomic class Pycnogonida), and possibly one with eggs. If not, then - as mentioned above - it would be some sort of spider crab (taxonomic superfamily Majoidea).

If it is a sea spider, you probably don't want it in tank (Reefkeepers Archive has been dealing with quite the infestation, and they've been damaging their corals); some are harmless and/or have very specific diets, but - as demonstrated by Reefkeepers Archive's tank - some are harmful to corals and seem to have a very generalist diet.

 

[AstroMelly]

Good to know! We were unsure as never seen anything like this hitch in before. It is still in the observation box so will do some research myself and most likely dispose.

Thanks!

 

[jabberwock]

Never seen one of those before. When in doubt, leave it out.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Either an arrow crab or sea spider and im leaning towards sea spider which needs to get out of tank

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

what music were you playing?

 

[AstroMelly]

I would say you are right! I also noticed two sacs attached to one of the pairs of legs which tallies with this Wikipedia page:

Sea spider - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Also this article shows almost the same specimen. Credit Nikki @ReefdUp

Identification of Sea Spiders - Coral Ever After

The sea spiders identified here are more interested in eating coral than eating pods in a reef tank, which makes them all the more scary!

coraleverafter.org

Sadly it will be gone in the morning but nevertheless an interesting hitchhiker. We will probably be dipping those frogspawn’s again…

 

[AstroMelly]

what music were you playing?

Haha - the radio might have been on in the background. I’m surprised YouTube did not flag it for copyright breach!

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Haha - the radio might have been on in the background. I’m surprised YouTube did not flag it for copyright breach!

my kids are watching Trolls Band Together and "Sweet Dreams" was playing right when I saw this video. Totally InSync!

 

[AstroMelly]

my kids are watching Trolls Band Together and "Sweet Dreams" was playing right when I saw this video. Totally InSync!

That’s hilarious! Maybe I will dub it on and repost!

 

[Tired]

Aw, cool! Sadly, does appear to be a sea spider, which is likely a pest. Euthanize with clove oil or by quick crushing.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Yikes... that's a sea spider.... at least you captured an egg-carrying one. Is your tank LPS/SPS dominant? I've found these will eat pretty much every LPS/SPS coral, so dont assume a particular coral is safe, ive found these on every coral ranging from acanthophyllia to cyphastrea, even on hydroids. They definitely do not primairy eat acans. They're primarily nocturnal, so I recommend watching your tank ~30 min after its gone completely dark, check the tank a few times a night 1+ hours apart. Sadly they always come in groups 2+ per coral, so you probably have many more of these. Look around the edges/base of coral, where the flesh meets the skeleton/rock. A good indicator of their presence is dead skeleton on the perimeter of coral, and also mesenterial filaments in the site that's being attacked. Any mesenterial filaments that are sea spider caused will disappear in a day so if you keep seeing them than you haven't gotten all of them. They also seem to be more active when food or phyto is added to the tank so I will add coral food/phyto, wait about 30 min and then scan my tank with a flashlight. Make sure to check EVERY coral, as they will infest your tank. I've taken 10+ of these off some individual coral so don't underestimate them. I grab them with needle-tip forceps, make sure to get the body and not just the legs, as they can regenerate. If you see any recession forming at the underside/edge of the coral while the rest looks healthy, it's most likely sea spiders. I've taken 40+ of these off my reef in the last 2 weeks, approaching 50, honestly have lost count. My mistake was assuming I got all of them 1 month back, they're active most on dark nights so if you have the lunar cycle feature on your lights, you won't see many during the full moon, though you can turn off the light for one night and they will start to be active. Good luck my friend, pray for the best, expect the worst.

 

[AstroMelly]

This individual was revealed from dipping a newly purchased frogspawn frag. We hope he was on his own!

Thanks for the info I will be checking the tank regularly after lights out and we will be re-dipping several times over the coming days/weeks both the frog spawns we bought recently (not sure which one he came off but they were dipped together in Coral RX.

My wife was managing the dip and she thinks it released quite early in the 10 minute or so dip period but did not see movement until the end. So that may indicate they are susceptible to that particular dip at least.

Here is the last and best video of the little guy I took just now before disposal. At least he hung onto his bundles of eggs!



We did try a little experiment before this with our leopard star wrasse but the fish got too stressed from being in the observation box so we abandoned.

I have read your threads on this and sympathise. If you want to take a punt on a fish I would suggest the leopard star (aka peacock) wrasse. Beautiful fish and seems good pest control - our male/female pair are constantly hunting while awake, great looks and personality. Was horrible to see the female stressed (she swam into our little trap box first and is the more skittish of the 2 - I wanted to try our male Cyril who is more resilient but got Cynthia instead) . So unfortunately abandoned the attempt to see if she would show an interest in the sea spider. All in the name of science eh? She was fine a few minutes after hand catching from the box and returning to the DT. I thought given the opportunity to try and establish what may prey on these creatures may help you and the community. I will pass on your thanks and apologies to Cynthia!

Had to confirm the spider still had his eggs hence the final video.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

This individual was revealed from dipping a newly purchased frogspawn frag. We hope he was on his own!

Thanks for the info I will be checking the tank regularly after lights out and we will be re-dipping several times over the coming days/weeks both the frog spawns we bought recently (not sure which one he came off but they were dipped together in Coral RX.

My wife was managing the dip and she thinks it released quite early in the 10 minute or so dip period but did not see movement until the end. So that may indicate they are susceptible to that particular dip at least.

Here is the last and best video of the little guy I took just now before disposal. At least he hung onto his bundles of eggs!



We did try a little experiment before this with our leopard star wrasse but the fish got too stressed from being in the observation box so we abandoned.

I have read your threads on this and sympathise. If you want to take a punt on a fish I would suggest the leopard star (aka peacock) wrasse. Beautiful fish and seems good pest control - our male/female pair are constantly hunting while awake, great looks and personality. Was horrible to see the female stressed (she swam into our little trap box first and is the more skittish of the 2 - I wanted to try our male Cyril who is more resilient but got Cynthia instead) . So unfortunately abandoned the attempt to see if she would show an interest in the sea spider. All in the name of science eh? She was fine a few minutes after hand catching from the box and returning to the DT. I thought given the opportunity to try and establish what may prey on these creatures may help you and the community. I will pass on your thanks and apologies to Cynthia!

Had to confirm the spider still had his eggs hence the final video.

I've been personally looking into Halichoeres wrasse for pest control as well, though I was originally planning (and still am) to eventually add a harem of meleagris leopards.


They hardly ever come alone though. Unlike some inverts they do need at least one other to fertilize the eggs, definitely give another dip and continue to monitor. Good luck! You caught it early, which is always good