Mealybugs, but for coral

melfish

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Can anyone tell me what these things are? They remind me of mealybugs in that little pieces of them break away in a slimy string when you remove them. They are delicate and tear apart easily.

They’re on absolutely everything- acans/micromussa, torch, zoas, goni, monti cap. They do come off in a Coral Revive dip, but for every 100 that come off, there’s 4729347292 more that survive.

They seem to be in plague proportions but strangely don’t seem to be damaging or even bothering the corals (yet). Full extension during the day.

Microscope wasn’t very helpful. I didn’t record the magnification, but can have another look tomorrow. The two specimens viewed through different objectives. I’m honestly not even positive I was looking at the right thing ;Bored but it’s 12:20am so reassessing is tomorrow’s problem

Any ideas? How worried should I be right now ;Wacky

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vetteguy53081

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I don’t do well with microscope images but mealy bugs tell me isopods. They should not do damage but they are capable of such.
wrasses such as melanurus or lunare should eat them
 

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