Critters of the Tank

This page is dedicated to displaying some of the critters in my tank. Please keep in mind these are just the critters I have been able to get pictures of. There are many more critters that live there, but they either rarely make an appearance, or are far too small to take a picture of. Enjoy!

Corallimorphs (Mushroom Corals)
	Name:	Discosoma sanctithomae
	Source:	Sealife Inc.
	Number:	1 for $13
	Notes:	A strange looking mushroom coral from the Caribbean, this mushroom looks like a hybrid between a Ricordea and a hairy mushroom. It has a very strong feeding response, as I found out when I accidentally dropped a dwarf cerith snail onto it. The mushroom closed up around the snail before I could attempt to rescue it.
	Name:	Discosoma sp. (Purple Mushroom Coral with Blue Spots)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	1 mushroom for $8
	Notes:	I bought this mushroom coral compulsively when I was at the fish store, even though it appeared to be rather ugly under the store's lights. When I placed it under my lights I discovered that it wasn't ugly at all. It is now one of my favorite mushroom corals, even though it still refuses to open up all the way.
	Name:	Discosoma sp. (Red Mushroom Coral)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	1 mushroom for $8
	Notes:	This mushroom seemed like a pretty good deal when I saw it in the tank for $8, so I decided to go ahead and buy it. I found out later on when I was adding it to the tank that it had a second mushroom on it that was in pretty bad shape, but will likely recover. In addition, it had a foot underneath the mushroom that will likely form another mushroom. Not bad for $8!
	Name:	Rhodactis indosinensis (Hairy Mushroom Coral)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	1 mushroom for $15
	Notes:	This mushroom was a little expensive, but I really liked the way the "hairs" glowed a fluorescent green color under the actinic lighting in the store, as well as the texture of the shroom. Hopefully it will grow and split quickly so I can trade it for other corals.
	Name:	Ricordea florida (Florida Ricordea)
	Source:	Purchased online
	Number:	6 mushrooms for $60
	Notes:	This is but one of the many color morphs of Ricordea florida I received in a shipment from an online coral vendor. These mushrooms are amazingly beautiful as they glow under actinic lighting. I plan to propagate these mushrooms for trading and for selling.
	Name:	Ricordea yuma
	Source:	Purchased online
	Number:	1 for $20
	Notes:	This is my first Ricordea yuma, which is closely related to a Ricordea florida. You can tell the difference between the two species by looking at the mouth -- a yuma has tentacles on its mouth, while a florida does not. Yumas often have more interesting and exotic color patterns, and much higher price tags as a result.
Coral (Softies)
	Name:	Capnella sp. (Kenya Tree Coral)
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	2 for free
	Notes:	Kenya Tree is a fairly quick-growing soft coral that is easy to propagate. When my coworker's Kenya trees grew too big I was given a piece of it, which I split into two. Both of these pieces have grown well.
	Name:	Pachyclavularia sp. (Green Star Polyps)
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	Often thought of as a "weed", this coral quickly grows and spreads across the tank and can potentially choke out other corals if left unchecked. As this coral ages the tentacles grow longer and take on a grass-like appearance that adds a lot of movement and color to a tank. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) this coral has not done well in my tank and has slowly died off.
	Name:	Sarcophyton sp. (Toadstool Leather)
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic
	Number:	1 for $5
	Notes:	Purchased from Heather at the 2007 Spring Picnic, this toadstool leather has grown very quickly and has become a real eye catcher. Unlike most toadstool leathers, this one will not grow a long stalk and will get very large if left unchecked. At some point I will move this coral to the side of the tank and will likely frag it often to keep it at a reasonable size.
	Name:	Xenia elongata (Pulsating Xenia or Waving Hand Coral)
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	Deceased
	Notes:	Xenia is one of my favorite corals due to its feathery polyps that pulse rhythmically by opening and closing. This coral was also propagated off a main colony and given to me by a coworker, but unfortunately it has slowly died off -- most likely due to it's close proximity to a couple of Acanthastrea colonies
	Name:	Zoanthidae (Blue and Yellow Zoanthid Colony)
	Source:	Purchased
	Number:	Numerous
	Notes:	This zoanthid colony is a deeper water colony that was purchased at the same time as my first set of Ricordeas. The skirt is a dark brown with yellow-green highlights and the center is a light to dark blue with a yellow-green mouth. These zoanthids are especially striking under pure actinic lighting. I have since bought many different zoanthid and palythoa colonies of varying sizes and color patterns.
Coral (Large-Polyped Stonies)
	Name:	Acanthastrea echinata
	Source:	Exotic Aquatics
	Number:	3 very small frags for $25
	Notes:	These are possibly the prettiest Acans I have ever seen in person. If they keep these colors and ever grow out to a decent size, they will be a showpiece for sure. I'm crossing my fingers on this one.
	Name:	Acanthastrea hillae
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic
	Number:	1 colony for $10
	Notes:	I'm a huge fan of Acans, so even though this isn't the prettiest of specimins, it was hard to turn down for $10. This coral almost completely died during the mini-crash over Memorial Day weekend, but it has come back amazingly fast.
	Name:	Acanthastrea lordhowensis (Acan Lord)
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Frag Fest
	Number:	1 colony for $10
	Notes:	Purchased at the Chesapeake Marine Aquaria Society (CMAS) Frag Fest in February, this Acan Lord was the first LPS coral in my tank. This piece came from a very large colony that was cut into small cubes by a wet tile saw.
	Name:	Caulastrea echinulata (Trumpet coral)
	Source:	Free from a friend
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	These two color morphs of Trumpet coral were given to me by my friend Bob when he picked up his part of the CMAS Sealife Inc. group buy I put together. They are very fast growers and I will likely have a lot of frags available soon.
	Name:	Duncanopsammia axifuga (Duncan or Whisker coral)
	Source:	CMAS Club Trip to Mr. Coral
	Number:	1 polyp for free
	Notes:	As part of a special deal offered by Mr. Coral (www.mrcoral.com) during the CMAS club trip to his retail store, any member who purchased $75 worth of corals would receive one free duncan polyp. It was not hard to reach the $75 mark with Mr. Coral's excellent selection of reasonably priced Acan frags. The growth rate of this coral is very impressive when it is supplemented with daily feedings of mysis shrimp.
	Name:	Echinophyllia aspera (Chalice coral)
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic
	Number:	1 colony for $10
	Notes:	This Echinophyllia was a beautiful, deep green color when I first bought it, but it has lost nearly all of its color under my power compact lights. I hope it will regain its original color when I move it to the 29g tank I'm setting up at home, which will have a 150W metal halide light.
	Name:	Euphyllia divisa (Frogspawn coral)
	Source:	CMAS Meeting - September 2007
	Number:	1 for $20
	Notes:	From the very beginning I've always wanted a frogspawn coral and I had many opportunities to get one for a good price, but I held out for a green frogspawn with pink or purple tips. My wait paid off and TomD sold me these two heads of frogspawn for a very reasonable price.
	Name:	Favia sp.
	Source:	Mr. Coral
	Number:	2 for $7
	Notes:	I rescued two small frags of this favia for $7 from Mr. Coral's store. The smaller frag died almost right away, but this frag is slowly healing. While it isn't very nice looking right now, I'm hoping it will eventually grow into a nice green and brown colony. To those of you beginners, the spikey looking white material behind the polyps is the calcium carbonate skeleton of the coral left behind when the coral's flesh dies.
	Name:	Favites sp.
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Frag Fest
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	This LPS coral, along with a small Monti Cap SPS coral, was given to me by Mike (LobsterofJustice) at the CMAS Frag Fest as a left over from the frag tank he was breaking down. The Monti Cap has since been given to a friend with better lighting as it had begun to bleach in my tank. Hopefully both corals will thrive. Thanks Mike!
	Name:	Fungia sp.
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic
	Number:	1 for $20 (deceased)
	Notes:	Unfortunately this beautiful fungia coral did not do well in my tank and it died about a month after I bought it at the CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic. It's a real shame, as it was my favorite frag from the picnic. Red is a very rare color for fungias.
	Name:	Galaxea sp. (Galaxy coral)
	Source:	CMAS 2007 Spring Picnic
	Number:	1 for $5
	Notes:	I almost didn't buy this awesome coral out of fear that it would sting other corals at night, but I decided to take a risk, since it was so cheap. After talking to some fellow reef-geeks I found out that you can control the length of the stinging tentacles by placing the coral in an area with low flow. So far this seems to be working and the coral has grown nicely, though, like the Echinophyllia from the picnic, it has lost some color.
	Name:	Tubastrea sp. (Yellow Sun Coral)
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	A big thank you to Matas for giving me this free frag of yellow sun coral polyps. This has quickly become one of my favorite corals in the tank even though it requires extra work for me, since it is a non-photosynthetic coral that requires food several times a week. Normally this species of coral does not open during the day, but I have trained it to open up towards the end of the day by feeding it before the lights go out.
Coral (Small-Polyped Stonies)
	Name:	Acropora sp.
	Source:	Thrown in with a purchase
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	At the September 2008 CMAS Garage Sale meeting I purchased a Aqualogic single-stage temperature controller from Doug and he threw in this very large colony of staghorn Acropora. The color of this colony was originally a brick red color, but under my lighting it has turned into a more pinkish color. This is a very fast growing coral and I will likely have many frags of it in the future.
	Name:	Montipora confusa
	Source:	Thrown in with a purchase
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	Another rather large frag given to me by Doug for purchasing his temperature controller, this Montipora has a really cool growth pattern. As you can see in the picture, my green clown goby has taken up residence in this coral and can often be found perching in it for "protection".
	Name:	Montipora sp. ("Monti Cap")
	Source:	Free from a club member
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	While this coral is commonly known as a "Monti Cap", short for Montipora capricornis, it is not actually that exact species and is instead a very similar one which I'm not sure of. This species grows rather quickly and is from a large colony that was sold during Walt's tank break down in 2008.
	Name:	Montipora Sp. (Tyree LE Rainbow Montipora)
	Source:	Purchased from a club member
	Number:	1 for $25
	Notes:	At $25 this was a great deal from Steve, but the deal was sweetened to insane proportions when he fragged seven other great looking corals. This frag has lost a bit of color in my tank, but it still looks pretty nice and is growing at a decent rate.
	Name:	Pocillopora sp.
	Source:	Thrown in with a purchase
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	This is yet another frag given to me by Doug for purchasing his temperature controller. The color of this coral has been slowly changing under my lighting, going from a dark green to a fluorescent green.
	Name:	Seriatopora Hystrix (Birdsnest coral)
	Source:	Free from a friend
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	While this coral may appear rather unhealthy and bleached, it has survived looking this way for almost a year now and is finally starting to color up a little under my new metal halide lighting. This birdnest coral was a CMAS 2008 Fragfest coral, which was given to me by Tim.
Crustaceans
	Name:	Amphipoda sp. (Amphipod)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Countless
	Notes:	Amphipods are great reef tank janitors and are fun to watch. When I feed the tank you can watch these little guys jump out of a hole, grab a piece of food in their claws, and run away as quick as they can before something takes the food from them or tries to eat them.
	Name:	Clibinarius diguetti (Mexican Red Leg Hermit Crab)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	Deceased
	Notes:	This hermit crab was supposed to be the sixth scarlet reef crab in a deal where I got six scarlets for $20. The last I saw him, he was shell-less and wandering around the tank. I assume he was eaten by something before he could find a shell he liked.
	Name:	Clibanarius tricolor (Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	5 at $1 each
	Notes:	These hermit crabs can be pretty entertaining at times. If a piece of food drops in the tank they all seem to sense it at once and a brawl over it ensues. They also can be jerks at times, as the stronger crabs tend to decide they like another crab's shell better than theirs and they'll rip the other crab out of its shell and steal it. They also have the bad habit of walking over corals and causing them to close up temporarily. My blue leg hermits seem to be lazy however, as they hide all day.
	Name:	Isopoda sp. (Isopod)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Countless
	Notes:	This is an example of what I believe is an isopod, which are small shrimp-like crustaceans. These little guys are excellent to have in a reef tank, as they help keep the tank clean and they provide food for the larger animals. Some fish, such as the Mandarin Dragonet rely solely on pods such as these for food. This one was crawling on my glass that just happened to be dirty at the time, which allowed my camera to focus on the very small copepod (5 - 6mm).
	Name:	Lysmata debelius (Fire Shrimp)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	1 for $15
	Notes:	This beautiful shrimp was purchased during Mr. Coral's 2008 Halloween special and has been a crowd pleaser ever since I added it. Once in a while I'll catch the coral beauty angelfish presenting himself to the shrimp and the shrimp giving him a good cleaning. Symbiotic relationships such as these are one of the more fascinating aspects of this hobby.
	Name:	Mithraculus sculptus (Emerald Crab)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	Deceased
	Notes:	These crabs are voracious eaters. The second they land in the tank they are double-fisting (err... clawing) food into their mouth, and they continue in this manner for the majority of the day. When they get tired they merely eat with one claw instead of two. I had two of these crabs at first, but later sold the larger one back to the fish store and the smaller one eventually died from an unknown cause.
	Name:	Paguristes cadenati (Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	3
	Notes:	These hermit crabs add a bit of color to the tank, as their bright red legs and yellow eyes sharply contrast the other, more subdued colors in the tank. These hermits are a bit more peaceful than the blue leg hermits, and hopefully more active as well.
	Name:	Rhynchocinetes durbanensis (Camel Shrimp)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	0
	Notes:	I was forced to sell this little guy to the local fish store because I was suspicious that he was the culprit eating my zoanthids at night. I hope he finds a good new home soon.
Echinoderms
	Name:	Asterina anomal
	Source:	Hitchhiker on coral
	Number:	2+
	Notes:	Many people consider these seastars to be a pest, but the majority of Asterina sp. seastars are harmless algae grazers and beneficial to a reef tank. It is thought that some of their legs are smaller than others because they detach them in order to allow the legs to regenerate into a new seastar.
	Name:	Unknown Mini Brittle seastar
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Numerous+
	Notes:	When I first saw this seastar I only saw one leg and thought it was some kind of strange looking worm. To my surprise it turned out to be a seastar, the first one I've been able to get a picture of.
	Name:	Unknown Mini Brittle seastar
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Numerous
	Notes:	This small brittle seastar is cream colored with brown stripes on its legs. I believe it arrived in my tank on the frag disk my red mushroom was attached to. This variety of brittle seastar is a very common hitchhiker and one or more make their way into nearly every reef tank at some point. Usually all you see of them is their legs dangling out of cracks in the rocks.
Fish
	Name:	Amphiprion percula (True Percula Clownfish or "Nemo")
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	1 for $15
	Notes:	I know it is cliché these days for everyone to have a "Nemo" in their tank, but when I saw this little guy all by himself in a tank at the store I just had to have him. He's a voracious eater and after only a week he was trained to take food from my fingers. It was tough leaving the tank fallow for 10 weeks, but it seems to have paid off as I have not found any parasites on him yet.
	Name:	Bodianus bimaculatus (Yellow Candy Hogfish)
	Source:	Purchased from a friend
	Number:	1 for $25
	Notes:	I purchased this beautiful and active fish from my friend Kevin. At night, after the lights go out, it hides inside of a hollow rock and builds a protective mucous cocoon while it sleeps like many wrasses do.
	Name:	Centropyge bispinosus (Coreal Beauty Angelfish)
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	1 for free
	Notes:	My coral beauty angelfish was given to me by my friend Tony while we moved his 90g corner tank from his 1st floor to his basement. This fish is a favorite by my friends as it has a rather goofy and dopey personality and tends to follow the yellow candy hogfish around all day.
	Name:	Gobiodon histro (Green Clown Goby)
	Source:	Purchased from a friend
	Number:	1 for $10
	Notes:	Easily my favorite critter in the tank, this small goby is full of personality. He loves to people watch and will often come out of hiding when he notices someone looking into the tank and will sometimes swim right up to the glass and stare back at them. During the day he seems to like to hide in my Montipora confusa colony and at night he usually sleeps in the large stagorn acropora colony. He has not given me any problems with nibbling on SPS corals as of yet.
	Name:	Gramma loreto (Royal Gramma Basslet)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	Deceased
	Notes:	This was the first fish I've ever had to take care of on my own, but unfortunately it came with some kind of parasitic trematode. It lasted only a couple weeks before it died, and I was forced to leave the tank fallow (no fish) for 10 weeks to ensure that all the parasites would die without a host.
	Name:	Valenciennae puellaris (Orange Diamond Sleeper Goby)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	Deceased
	Notes:	This was possibly the coolest fish I ever had the pleasure of keeping and I miss him greatly. Gilgamesh was full of personality and I was even able to train him to come out of hiding when I had food by tapping on the glass with tweezers. As soon as he heard the tapping he'd come scooting out of his burrow and swim around all excited waiting for the food to come. He also loved to pick up the nassarius snails that wondered too close to his home and escort them across the tank. You were a great fish, Gil. RIP.
Gastropods
	Name:	Astraea tecta
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	3
	Notes:	These are perhaps the best snails you can purchase. They are practically algae vacuums and they keep the glass pretty clean if you have enough of them. Their shell is also commonly used by hermit crabs. I believe astraea means star in Latin, and they were given this name due to their shell growing in a star shaped pattern.
	Name:	Collonista sp.
	Source:	Hitchhiker on frag
	Number:	Countless
	Notes:	One of the best members of my clean up crew, these snails multiply rapidly and can remove algae from all the nooks and crannies within the live rock. They mostly hide during the day and come out in great numbers as soon as the lights turn off.
	Name:	Dwarf Cerith Snail
	Source:	Freebie from a friend
	Number:	~50 for free
	Notes:	My friend Bill bought too many of these great snails from ReefCleaners.org and shared some of them with me. These snails hide in the sand all day and come out shortly after the lights go out. Very few seem to go onto the rocks, as they seem to prefer to clean the glass (most likely to avoid the hermit crabs).
	Name:	Nassarius sp. (Submarine Snail)
	Source:	Purchased at store
	Number:	3 at $1 each
	Notes:	These little snails are a lot of fun to watch. They bury themselves in the sand and their tube-like foot sticks out of the sand like a periscope. The second they sense food nearby they surface like a submarine and quickly speed in the direction of the food, tapping their foot, much like a blind man tapping a cane, while searching for it.
	Name:	Rissoid Snail
	Source:	Hitchhiker on frag
	Number:	Countless
	Notes:	Very similar in appearance to the dreaded pyramidellid snails, these snails are actually a beneficial member of my clean up crew, as they are small enough to reach all the nooks and crannies that other snails cannot. You can determine whether you have rissoid or pyramid snails here.
	Name:	Stomatella varia (I call them Freds)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	2 (Maybe more)
	Notes:	This is one of my favorite creatures in the tank, as they are so funny looking they make me laugh. They appear very similar to a sea slug, except they have a very thin, almost fingernail-like shell that covers approximately half of their body. As far as snails go they move very quickly and can disappear in the blink of an eye (okay maybe 5 blinks). They rarely come out while the lights are on and they have excellent camouflage, so they are hard to spot at times.
	Name:	Unknown algae grazing snail
	Source:	Hitchhiker in nassarius snail purchase
	Number:	1
	Notes:	This snail spends all day grazing the film algae that is growing on the baffle in my DIY refugium, which makes him quite difficult to get a good picture of. I will try to get a better picture of him in the future, but until then, anyone have any idea what type of snail he is? Please e-mail me if you do.
	Name:	Serpulorbis sp. (Vermetid gastropod or Shell Worm)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	1+
	Notes:	This creature is similar in appearance to a tube worm, but it has an internal structure that more closely resembles a gastropod. In fact, these creatures are snails, but they cement themselves to the substrate after their juvenile stage. To feed they send out strands of mucous to catch plankton in the water column. They then reel these strands of mucous in and eat them. What a cool little critter -- I hope he sticks around! Pun not intended...
Algae
	Name:	Botryocladia sp.
	Source:	Hitchhiker on coral
	Number:	Several
	Notes:	I'm not positive this is a Botryocladia, but it definitely resembles some kind of red bubble algae. This algae is mostly concentrated on a sponge colony that has taken residence underneath my favites frag. They don't seem to spread fast so I'm just leaving them alone for now.
	Name:	Coraline Algae
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Countless Colonies
	Notes:	This picture displays several of the many colors of coraline algae that grow in my tank. This algae is calcium-based and tends to grow where light is not as intense.
	Name:	Neomeris annulata
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	1
	Notes:	These calcium-based macro algae sprouted up on several rocks on the right side of the tank, but were slowly eaten by my scarlet reef hermits. About six months later a single stalk of this macro algae has appeared on one of my hydor-flo deflectors, where the scarlet reef hermits cannot reach it.
	Name:	Unknown Red Turf Algae
	Source:	Hitchhiker on coral frag
	Number:	Countless
	Notes:	Almost impossible to remove from the rocks, this macro algae is a real nuisance and I'm not sure what I can do to slow down its growth. Luckily it does not seem to be able to grow on corals themselves or I would really be in trouble. Anyone have any idea what this macro algae is and/or how I can keep it in check? Please e-mail me.
	Name:	Valonia macrophysa (Bubble Algae)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	0
	Notes:	These macro algae are a nuisance that nearly every tank seems to get, and very few manage to get rid of. When the bubbles get big enough I carefully remove them with tweezers. If the bubble were to pop it would spread spores all around the tank and I'll never be rid of bubble algae. Luckily I think I've removed all of them without popping them. Only time will tell.
Sponges
	Name:	Sycon sp.(AKA Q-tip or Pineapple sponge)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Too many to count
	Notes:	These interesting little sponges have quickly spread in the "dead" areas of my tank where there is little flow. These two sponges are located on one of my powerheads, and are surrounded by Spirorbid worms. Also in the enlarged picture you can see an amphipod perched on the sponge.
	Name:	Unknown Sponge
	Source:	Hitchhiker on coral
	Number:	Several
	Notes:	I tried to remove this sponge several times without success before I decided that, while not the prettiest critter in the tank, this sponge wasn't hurting anything and was instead just providing beneficial filtration. My reason for trying to remove this sponge is that the "tentacles" it sends out are irritating corals and are rather ugly in appearance. Hopefully I won't have anymore of these sponges pop up in the open.
Worms
	Name:	Amphiscolops sp. (Acoel Flatworm)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on coral
	Number:	Too many to count
	Notes:	These flatworms appeared on my front glass almost over night and are quickly multiplying. They are very tiny at approximately 4 mm, and they are nearly see through. Unlike their red planaria flatworm cousins, who are a major pest as they multiply quickly and release toxins into the tank as they die, these little guys are relatively harmless.
	Name:	Phascolosoma sp. (Sipunculid Peanut Worm)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	1+
	Notes:	Peanut worms are a lot of fun to watch. They unroll themselves like a sock and at the end of their body is a series of velcro-like whiskers that scrape food off the rock. Once enough food has been gathered on these whiskers the worm rolls itself back up and eats. I'd like to capture a video of this process sometime -- it is almost unreal to watch.
	Name:	Phyllochaetopterus sp.
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	1+
	Notes:	Another creature that seems to make its way into every reef tank, this worm creates a tube out of sand and reaches two long tendrils out of it to collect small particles of food.
	Name:	Serpulid feather duster
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	0+
	Notes:	These feather dusters are very tiny, with the "bristles" being only about 4mm long and 5mm across. The rest of the worm remains hidden in a leathery stump it secreted. This photograph was very difficult to get, due to the size of the feather duster. I was forced to turn off both powerheads and move the lighting fixture to get the picture from above. Unfortunately these feather dusters seem to have died off over time.
	Name:	Serpulid feather duster
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	10+
	Notes:	These beautiful red feather dusters all seemed to appear over the course of several days and have continued to grow bigger. Hopefully they'll stick around permanently.
	Name:	Spirorbis sp. (Spirorbid Worm)
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	Too many to count
	Notes:	Spirorbid worms are yet another critter that seem to make it into nearly every tank. They quickly cover the rocks, glass, powerheads, and any other hard surfaces in the tank, including snail shells. Despite this pest-like quality, they are harmless filter feeders and are beneficial, if anything.
	Name:	Unknown tube worm
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	0+
	Notes:	These strange worms create tubes out of very fine grained sand, as you can see in the enlarged picture, and randomly poke their heads out of their tube, wiggle it around, and then slink back into their tube. At one point these worms covered the bottom of the majority of the base rocks in the tank, but, unfortunately, these fascinating worms seem to have all disappeared and their homes are slowly degenerating.
Miscellaneous
	Name:	Digitate Hydroid
	Source:	Hitchhiker on a frag
	Number:	Way too many!
	Notes:	I made the mistake of putting a frag in my tank that had one or two of these creatures on it and now I have countless numbers of them. They seem to have the ability to make jerking motions, which appears to be a method of catching food, and to deflate into little stumps. So far they haven't noticeably stung anything (including me), so I'm assuming they're harmless. Hopefully they won't take over my tank anymore than they have.
Unknown
	Name:	Worm?
	Source:	Hitchhiker on live rock
	Number:	several
	Notes:	Yet another unknown critter thriving in my tank. This worm-like creature builds a mound of fine grain sand and seems to just sit there all day being relatively inactive. Once in a while it will stir and the mound will move up and down a little bit, but I have yet to see any significant part of the worm itself. Again, please e-mail me if you have any idea as to what this might be.