Filter feeder on duncan! Need ID

[mizimmer90]

I'm reposting this thread on the critter ID channel since I can now clearly see little feathery creatures living in the base of my duncan!

Anyone know what these are or how to treat them? When I got the coral a few weeks ago, I did a 10 min dip in Revive.

OK definitely a parasite. Difficult to capture with my cell phone but you can see two feathers spinning around and opening and closing. Anyone know what this is? Will the hermit crab eat them? See attachment

View attachment 2892157

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I cannot tell for sure from the video but am going to take a guess and say they are barnacles.

Can you post another vid with whiter light?

 

[mizimmer90]

I cannot tell for sure from the video but am going to take a guess and say they are barnacles.

Can you post another vid with whiter light?

White light definitely helps! Good call

 

[F i s h y]

White light definitely helps! Good call

View attachment 2892183

Barnacles.

 

[mizimmer90]

Thanks for the help!

Will they hurt the duncan? It looks like they've drilled into the flesh? Will it spread to other corals? Quick google searches aren't giving me much

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

White light definitely helps! Good call

View attachment 2892183

Definitely barnacles. Cute little guys. They usually don't survive long in captivity but are fun to watch

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks for the help!

Will they hurt the duncan? It looks like they've drilled into the flesh? Will it spread to other corals? Quick google searches aren't giving me much

No, they are harmless filter feeders.

 

[mizimmer90]

No, they are harmless filter feeders.

Barnacles.

Phew, that's a relief! I appreciate the help!

 

[mizimmer90]

No, they are harmless filter feeders.

One more question on this: I've been dosing phytoplankton everyday to boost copepods. Will this also keep the Barnicles alive and give me headaches later?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, looks like you've got boring barnacles of some kind - they bore into the calcium carbonate skeleton of the coral under the coral's flesh (so you are right, they have drilled into the flesh), but they don't really cause any harm. As mentioned, they don't tend to last long in aquaria, so they shouldn't spread like coral boring spionid worm infestations have been known to. Neat find - not necessarily one you'd want to have with coral boring aspect, but still neat.

That said, the only time coral boring seems to actually be injurious to corals is with large infestations in the wild, where the infestations eventually weaken the coral's skeleton to the point where the strong waves or storms may break the coral apart (I've heard of this happening with large CBSW infestations, but not with coral boring barnacles which are super common in some reefs like Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico), but the infestation itself doesn't actually seem to bother the corals).

One more question on this: I've been dosing phytoplankton everyday to boost copepods. Will this also keep the Barnicles alive and give me headaches later?

It's possible it could keep the barnacles alive (it depends on the species of barnacle, the species of phytoplankton, and how much you dose), but it's unlikely. It's also extremely unlikely it would give you any headaches later, as you would need to be feeding the right kind of phyto in the right quantities (for the barnacle larvae reared in labs, this is typically 10^5 phyto cells per ml), and, even if you were doing that, barnacles go through two pelagic phases (nauplius larval stage and cypris larval stage) before settling, so they - like most other pelagic larvae in our tanks - would likely be eaten/removed by mechanical equipment/flushed out in a water change/etc. before settlement.

 

[mizimmer90]

Yeah, looks like you've got boring barnacles of some kind - they bore into the calcium carbonate skeleton of the coral under the coral's flesh (so you are right, they have drilled into the flesh), but they don't really cause any harm. As mentioned, they don't tend to last long in aquaria, so they shouldn't spread like coral boring spionid worm infestations have been known to. Neat find - not necessarily one you'd want to have with coral boring aspect, but still neat.

That said, the only time coral boring seems to actually be injurious to corals is with large infestations in the wild, where the infestations eventually weaken the coral's skeleton to the point where the strong waves or storms may break the coral apart (I've heard of this happening with large CBSW infestations, but not with coral boring barnacles which are super common in some reefs like Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico), but the infestation itself doesn't actually seem to bother the corals).


It's possible it could keep the barnacles alive (it depends on the species of barnacle, the species of phytoplankton, and how much you dose), but it's unlikely. It's also extremely unlikely it would give you any headaches later, as you would need to be feeding the right kind of phyto in the right quantities (for the barnacle larvae reared in labs, this is typically 10^5 phyto cells per ml), and, even if you were doing that, barnacles go through two pelagic phases (nauplius larval stage and cypris larval stage) before settling, so they - like most other pelagic larvae in our tanks - would likely be eaten/removed by mechanical equipment/flushed out in a water change/etc. before settlement.

This is great information! Thanks so much, this definitely eases my worries!