Tunicates

[Brit’s Fish]

So I have these tunicates in both of my 150s and I’m pretty sure I’ve narrowed down the source, but I’m wondering if anyone else has experience with this kind of tunicate. Will they eventually die off? It doesn’t seem like they sting corals to me, but has anyone experienced that?
They are certainly non-photosynthetic as they will only grow under overhangs but not completely on the underside of rocks or in caves where they get no light.
I think they’re interesting but I like my corals way more and the tunicates are spreading like wild fire. I just would rather not have a tank with nothing but tunicates so I’d like to attempt to get out ahead of any issues, if needed.
One tank is 1 1/2 years old, the other is 9 or 10 months old now. I wish I knew more about how they multiply as they’ve spanned two 4 foot tanks fairly quickly.

 

[P-Dub]

Certainly are interesting looking. I think you nailed it that they are tunicates. Just let them ride and see how it goes. They will ebb and flow based on the nutrients available.

 

[Miami Reef]

Seeing these pictures made my heart jump with excitement. The anthias + the pretty colors growing on the rocks + the coloration of the hammer coral!

AMAZING job!!! I don’t usually get the jitters like this!!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Certainly are interesting looking. I think you nailed it that they are tunicates. Just let them ride and see how it goes. They will ebb and flow based on the nutrients available.

They actually react to touch and maybe flow or food? I see them sort of open and close… they don’t move much, it’s more like a twitch but they’re certainly interesting to observe!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Certainly are interesting looking. I think you nailed it that they are tunicates. Just let them ride and see how it goes. They will ebb and flow based on the nutrients available.

Oops! I double posted somehow!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Seeing these pictures made my heart jump with excitement. The anthias + the pretty colors growing on the rocks + the coloration of the hammer coral!

AMAZING job!!! I don’t usually get the jitters like this!!

Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for that wonderful compliment!! Everything is about to go to sleep for the night so I was finally able to get some good pics of the tunicates.
I just added that Anthias recently and he’s blended into my group like they’ve always known each other. he’s been very curious and social and I am in love.

 

[Miami Reef]

Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for that wonderful compliment!! Everything is about to go to sleep for the night so I was finally able to get some good pics of the tunicates.
I just added that Anthias recently and he’s blended into my group like they’ve always known each other. he’s been very curious and social and I am in love.

Sending pm!

 

[MaxTremors]

IME, they’re not anything to worry about. Personally, I think they’re interesting and would let them grow.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Tunicates Rock! lol... for me the more biodiversity the better! lol! I just found a bunch on the other side of my intake wall. Anybody can grow coral... but how many people have or can even grow tunicates....

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Tunicates Rock! lol... for me the more biodiversity the better! lol! I just found a bunch on the other side of my intake wall. Anybody can grow coral... but how many people have or can even grow tunicates....

First, I love your username!!
And I agree, the more biodiversity the better! I think one of my favorite parts of this hobby is all the random life that can pop up all over. I love figuring out what everything is and then going down the rabbit hole of whether they’re good, bad or just cool. I do love my corals though, so I’m never opposed to doing whatever is best for them. I’m by no means an expert so I always want to “crowdsource” the info/opinions. Thanks for chiming in & congrats on your tunicates too!

 

[damsels are not mean]

I want em

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Not sure what everyone here is looking at but those are not tunicates. They are some type of anemone--majano or similar. Second guess would be a colonial hydroid--the type that tends to resemble zoas, not the digitate kind.

Both options are invasive pests so that would explain the rapid spread. Note the central mouth and the small tentacles around the perimeter of each radially symmetrical polyp. Tunicates have a central "mouth" and one side opening for water to flow through as they filter feed.

Not all biodiversity is good! May not harm anything but can potentially cover all your bare rock eventually. No advice really on how to get rid of them at this point. You could try smothering all you find w/ kalk paste and see if that works.

 

[MaxTremors]

Not sure what everyone here is looking at but those are not tunicates. They are some type of anemone--majano or similar. Second guess would be a colonial hydroid--the type that tends to resemble zoas, not the digitate kind.

Both options are invasive pests so that would explain the rapid spread. Note the central mouth and the small tentacles around the perimeter of each radially symmetrical polyp. Tunicates have a central "mouth" and one side opening for water to flow through as they filter feed.

Not all biodiversity is good! May not harm anything but can potentially cover all your bare rock eventually. No advice really on how to get rid of them at this point. You could try smothering all you find w/ kalk paste and see if that works.

They are colonial tunicates, commonly called mushroom tunicates (Distaplia sp). In this article, you can see a similar species (if not the same species) in the fifth photo.

An Introduction to Tunicates

By James W. Fatherree, M.Sc. Of the wide variety of invertebrate organisms available to hobbyists, the tunicates are some of the least frequently seen for sa

reefs.com

As mentioned in the article, some colonial tunicates will take on a round shape with several zooids encircling a single shared tunic in the middle.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

I disagree. In the second pic here you can clearly see small tentacles extending from the edges of the polyps. In the pic you site, while superficially similar looking, the edges of the polyps are smooth with no tentacle like extensions.

They do look similar to golden star tunicates too:

Golden Star Tunicate

Golden Star Tunicate

www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

However, again, note the lack of tentacle like protrusions.

Either way, good luck.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Well I see what you are talking about in the pictures now. I didn’t know that was what you were talking about. I just got excited that you said Tunicates! I do agree that they probably are not tunicates, but I also am not sure they are Hydroids either. The structure seems to more similar to a coral polyp even though as you said they seem to be non- photosynthetic. They may be invasive, but that is a very subjective term. GSP, Kenya, even Zoas are "invasive" I tried to photo reference them but I had no luck. Probably because they look boring and nobody photographs boring things.
What would I do if I was in your situation? "I" would probably let them do their thing or maybe put them on an island in the sand to see if that would contain them. or since they are in two tanks, combine them into just one. Although this is coming from a guy that in one of his temperate nano tanks has aiptasia and I don't worry about it... They come and go, never get very big...
GO CUBS!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Not sure what everyone here is looking at but those are not tunicates. They are some type of anemone--majano or similar. Second guess would be a colonial hydroid--the type that tends to resemble zoas, not the digitate kind.

Both options are invasive pests so that would explain the rapid spread. Note the central mouth and the small tentacles around the perimeter of each radially symmetrical polyp. Tunicates have a central "mouth" and one side opening for water to flow through as they filter feed.

Not all biodiversity is good! May not harm anything but can potentially cover all your bare rock eventually. No advice really on how to get rid of them at this point. You could try smothering all you find w/ kalk paste and see if that works.

Definitely not a Majano or any type of anemone. I wish I could get really clear pictures but they tend to be in the hardest places to catch photos of them. They are like little clear, inflated balloons with central mouths, sort of like a sponge. On the ones that are just by themselves, you can see the side opening well but the ones that are all grouped together are harder to see.
They don’t really have tentacles, it’s more that they have frilly edges which made me think they were some sort of clam type thing the first time I ever saw them. Both the shape and they way they reacted to movement/light changes around them.
Again, I’m not an expert so I could be wrong but I do believe these to be tunicates.
Edit: I have been actively trying to find a real ID for them though. There was a recent post about cool hitchhikers people have gotten on their wild live rock and someone posted a photo that looked similar to these but neon orange and I believe those were also tunicates?

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Well I see what you are talking about in the pictures now. I didn’t know that was what you were talking about. I just got excited that you said Tunicates! I do agree that they probably are not tunicates, but I also am not sure they are Hydroids either. The structure seems to more similar to a coral polyp even though as you said they seem to be non- photosynthetic. They may be invasive, but that is a very subjective term. GSP, Kenya, even Zoas are "invasive" I tried to photo reference them but I had no luck. Probably because they look boring and nobody photographs boring things.
What would I do if I was in your situation? "I" would probably let them do their thing or maybe put them on an island in the sand to see if that would contain them. or since they are in two tanks, combine them into just one. Although this is coming from a guy that in one of his temperate nano tanks has aiptasia and I don't worry about it... They come and go, never get very big...
GO CUBS!

I agree that anything can become an invasive pest on a long enough timeline. I did used to have these lovely tunicates on a piece of wild Trachyphyllia but they eventually died off after my pistol shrimp insisted on burying them. I’ll see if I can find my own pictures of them but this was the type I had - the ones with yellow stripes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tunicates are some of the natural wonders and are good filter feeders, that is, until they multiply But it takes time. If they get out of hand, gel superglue in the holes will pull them back.

 

[MaxTremors]

If these were a coral, anemone, or hydroid, they’d have a uniform number of ‘tentacles’ (they’re not tentacles, they’re individual zooids or animals that are sharing a central tunic/oral siphon - the chamber that takes in water). If you look at the photos, they do not all have the same number of ‘appendages’. The other problem with the assertion that they’re a majano is that there are several that are very clearly on the underside of the rock and receiving no light. I think I may have gotten the genus wrong in my previous post, but they are very clearly tunicates. Look at the photo here, it’s very clearly either this species, or a closely related species:

Botryllus schlosseri Star ascidian, golden star tunicate

Botryllus schlosseriis commonly referred to as Star ascidian, golden star tunicate. Difficulty in the aquarium: There are no reports available yet that this animal has already been kept in captivity successfully. A aquarium size of at least 100 Liter is recommended. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

 

[Brit’s Fish]

If these were a coral, anemone, or hydroid, they’d have a uniform number of ‘tentacles’ (they’re not tentacles, they’re individual zooids or animals that are sharing a central tunic/oral siphon - the chamber that takes in water). If you look at the photos, they do not all have the same number of ‘appendages’. The other problem with the assertion that they’re a majano is that there are several that are very clearly on the underside of the rock and receiving no light. I think I may have gotten the genus wrong in my previous post, but they are very clearly tunicates. Look at the photo here, it’s very clearly either this species, or a closely related species:

Botryllus schlosseri Star ascidian, golden star tunicate

Botryllus schlosseriis commonly referred to as Star ascidian, golden star tunicate. Difficulty in the aquarium: There are no reports available yet that this animal has already been kept in captivity successfully. A aquarium size of at least 100 Liter is recommended. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Yes! This is almost exactly what they look like! Thank you so much for finding that ID. They start out sort of small with a much more compact shape and then they grow more “appendages” as they get bigger. This cute little baby one looks like a flower right now and you can really see the central mouth here.