Hitchhiker?

bsn_rn_cen · 2026-10-07T14:12:21-0400

Good afternoon. I am inspecting a monti and found a couple of these on the bottom. They are close to the same color as the flesh on top. I have never seen flatworms and may be paranoid but my vision isn't the greatest and these small critters are not always the easiest for me to ID. Thanks

DaJMasta · 2026-10-07T14:19:38-0400

It's not screaming flatworm to me, but it's tiny (that's like 1.5mm or so next to the spirorbid worms?) And out of focus. You could try taking a macro shot slightly farther back to get it sharper (there is a minimum focus length), or if you have magnification, examining through a loupe or magnifying glass instead.

bsn_rn_cen · 2026-10-07T14:32:28-0400

I tried to get a more focused picture but couldn't do much better than that. I am going to dip anyway. I was just curious. Thank you DajMasta

DaJMasta · 2026-10-07T16:08:17-0400

I think dips are almost a universally good choice, you just want to make sure your dip of choice is gentle enough for the coral in question (there's lots of info around on this, and a lot of the commercial dips will work with most any coral.)

The real thing to be careful of with montis is monti eating nudibranches, and they are generally larger and not dark: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/montipora-eating-nudibranch-id-treatment-and-prevention.881142/

While pests can come in from anywhere, your most likely pests on a given frag are going to be for that kind of coral, since they will live, reproduce, and eat there, so if you don't see monti eating nudibranches or their eggs and dip it, it should be pretty clean overall.