Potential Sponge ID needed

[orion_xix]

Hey all,

I've got a growth growing between my two hammer heads and I'm not quite sure exactly what it is. It could potentially be a sponge, as the coral doesn't seem bothered by it at all. The heads stay open all day, I only found it at night doing a flashlight inspection on the reef.

My apologies for the flash in some photos. I've included 2 photos with flash, 2 without, and 1 photo during the day with the heads fully opened.

 

[duberii]

It could be a sponge or a tunicate- I'm leaning toward tunicate because it forks- could be an input siphon and an output siphon, but I'm not sure. the way to find out is by touching it- a tunicate would react and close its siphons and possibly retract, while a sponge won't do anything. Either way, it shouldn't do much harm, but if it is one that thrives in aquariums, it could overgrow the coral. I'd keep it but keep an eye on it, and as soon as the coral starts showing signs of stress I'd use a toothbrush to scrub it off, which should do the trick.

 

[king aiptasia]

It could be a sponge or a tunicate- I'm leaning toward tunicate because it forks- could be an input siphon and an output siphon, but I'm not sure. the way to find out is by touching it- a tunicate would react and close its siphons and possibly retract, while a sponge won't do anything. Either way, it shouldn't do much harm, but if it is one that thrives in aquariums, it could overgrow the coral. I'd keep it but keep an eye on it, and as soon as the coral starts showing signs of stress I'd use a toothbrush to scrub it off, which should do the trick.

do the tunicate test this user mentioned, if it is a sponge it will be impossible to identify without a good microscope and someone well read on sponges on hand. eIther way its harmless

 

[orion_xix]

Sounds good! I'll give it a poke with some tweezers tonight once the hammer heads close and see if it reacts in any way.

Thanks so much! I really appreciate it