INVERT'ed! What's your favorite non-fishy critters?

[MaxTremors]

It’s hard for me to pick just one, but it’s probably anemones. I also love all of the microfauna and hitchhikers that come in on live rock, keeps my tanks interesting.

 

[Canyon08]

Really like my peppermint shrimp. They are fun to watch and always crawl on my hand whenever it’s in the tank.

 

[Parrytimbo]

When dealing with hair algae there is no better crew than the hermits

 

[DeniseAndy]

I already voted and commented, but I remembered this little video and I am mesmerized by this guy every time in the traveling tank.

 

[KK's Reef]

Yes I know coral is technically an invert but let's leave them out of this discussion!

One of the coolest aspects to this hobby has to be those little critters we call marine inverts! Whether it be a fancy looking shrimp, a colorful starfish inching his way across the glass or an elegant fan worm dancing about in the water column, marine inverts can make for interesting additions to a saltwater reef aquarium. So let's talk about them today!

1. What is your MOST FAVORITE marine invert and why?

2. What invert would you like to add to your tank in the future?

Harlequin Shrimp perched on a coral image via @TUSI

Sexy shrimp. They're tiny and inconspicuous, but present enough movement and florescence to the tank.

 

[Cell]

I love my tiger pistol shrimp pair!

 

[iliketheletterb]

It has to be my crabs, the hermits running around or my decorator crab beautifying herself at the expense of whatever new softie I add into the tank.

 

[The_Skrimp]

My tuxedo urchin aka Roomba is the MVP of my cleanup crew.

Here he is munching away at some algae.

 

[KingRobot]

nassarius snails are cool

 

[FTW-Reef]

1 - Probably the anemone...cause, ya know, they're supposed to be the home for my obstinate pair of clownfish...

2 - Crocea Clam - for its beauty / small size / filtering function in my 24g nano

 

[Squidward]

Always liked my Tuxedo urchin.

 

[WizzWolfe]

Definitely my SEA HARE!! This is Pat cuddling up to her eggs resting with them after she grazed algae all night. She is so cute!! I just love her! (Or him!) Pat works so hard cleaning working graveyard all night every night eating algae. I am mad at Pat right now, for nuking my tank and this is the 2nd time. Bad Boy Pat! I think it was a little post partum action, honestly. I'm just glad to have him still alive, each day precious with my little killer friend.

 

[klp]

Cryptic Sponges, essential for reef ecosystems.



Element cycling on tropical coral reefs.
This is Jasper de Geoij's ground breaking research on reef sponges. (The introduction is in Dutch but the content is in English.)

https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/14555035/13completethesis.pdf

Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle

Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle

Marine sponges are ubiquitous colonizers of shallow, clear-water environments in the oceans (1, 2). Sponges have emerged as significant mediators of biogeochemical fluxes in coastal zones by virtue of respiring organic matter and facilitating both the consumption and release of nutrients (3, 4)...

www.pnas.org

Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges

Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that raise a conundrum called “Darwin’s paradox”: How can high production flourish in low-nutrient conditions? We show here that in three abundant Caribbean sponges, the granules that have been commonly observed in sponge tissue for decades are...

www.pnas.org

Differential recycling of coral and algal dissolved organic matter via the sponge loop.
Sponges treat DOC from algae differently than DOC from corals

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besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Surviving in a Marine Desert The Sponge Loop Retains Resources Within Coral Reefs
Dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen are quickly processed by sponges and released back into the reef food web in hours as carbon and nitrogen rich detritus.

(PDF) 2013 deGoeij Science Sponge loop

PDF | On Jun 23, 2015, Jasper M de Goeij and others published 2013 deGoeij Science Sponge loop | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

Natural Diet of Coral-Excavating Sponges Consists Mainly of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)

Natural Diet of Coral-Excavating Sponges Consists Mainly of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)

Coral-excavating sponges are the most important bioeroders on Caribbean reefs and increase in abundance throughout the region. This increase is commonly attributed to a concomitant increase in food availability due to eutrophication and pollution. We ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Role of Marine Sponges in Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles of COral Reefs and Nearshore Environments.

The role of marine sponges in carbon and nitrogen cycles of coral reef and nearshore environments - ProQuest

Explore millions of resources from scholarly journals, books, newspapers, videos and more, on the ProQuest Platform.

search.proquest.com

Great information. Appreciate it!

 

[scardall]

my fav

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

1. What is your MOST FAVORITE marine invert and why?

I’m rather partial to the strange crustaceans you sometimes find hiding in the back of pet shops. Sometimes I don’t know what they are, what they eat, etc. but I love trying and watching these creatures scuttle about and interact with their environment. My “most favorite” would probably be the hermit crab. They aren’t as bad as people make them out to be and highly entertaining with their antics. I have a large Calcinus laevimanus that gets into everything and loves to fight with the Nassarius over food. It never eats coral and us super bold.

2. What invert would you like to add to your tank in the future?

I’m looking for a Pom Pom crab, they are super cool and I’ve never seen one in person. Other than that, more RFAs and any weird critters I can find!

 

[Mark Bradley]

My pair of boxing shrimp. Would like to have a starfish but they seem to be ‘hit or miss’ so have avoided

 

[kcschwabe]

Got to go with crabs

ill say blue crabs lol

 

[kcschwabe]

Hmmm
Crabs or urchins
Cant decide
Crab I hand feed

Or my lifetime supply of ninja blowgun poison darts

i hand feed my crabs too

 

[kcschwabe]

Are you hand feeding a stone crab????? Those things hurt if it gets ahold of you!

i hand feed my blue crabs all the time .. my biggest is about 7 1/2 inches from point to point if she really wanted to get ahold of you she could prolly break a finger. shes drawn blood a couple times but only when she was smaller ( the tiny ones have pointier pinchers ) now i think she knows im not a threat she will try to climb onto my hand as she is grabbing at her food... certainly less vicious than some of the clown fish i read about lol.. she likes to get out of her tank alot

 

[Nick Steele]

@kcschwabe
I’ve been pinched a few times fishing with blue crabs and dang they hurt! Cool you have one though!

Is it a bait holding tank or just something you like?