Planaria/Flatworm ID: Found in torch

[SaltwaterScoop]

Background: I noticed the back head of my dragonsoul has been closed for 2 weeks. I was worried about a bacterial infection so I removed the frag to inspect. The frag started as a single head and grew to 3 in a few months and seemed happy up until last week (slow grower but happy). I have been running increased flow in the tank for the past month since my SPS colonies have exploded in growth so that's what I suspected the culprit to be since the back area was receiving the most flow.

I noticed significant tissue recession after inspecting the frag so I decided to cut off the head that is not opening/unhappy to potentially save the rest of the frag. Once I did this, I noticed the container exploded with...flatworms. It seemed like a 100 and resembled red planaria which I had a year or so back. I do not currently see any in the display (I'm sure they are there). My old Melanarus made quick work of the red planaria when they initially showed up but I had to trade him back in after he became hyper aggressive. He's been gone for about 6 months and once he was out of the tank I moved in our 2 Bluestar leopard wrasses that were in another system. I'm wondering if the leopard wrasses are not as good as the melanarus was at keeping them in check?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could Identify this type of flatworm. I am not sure if it killed the torch or just fed on the dying/dead tissue. Thanks!

They look reddish to the naked eye.

Here are the best pictures I could manage:

The rest of my corals are showing no symptoms of irritation. I have 1 other torch in the tank and it is behaving normally.

 

[SaltwaterScoop]

I am thinking:

From the hitchhiker guide*

 

[SaltwaterScoop]

Your wormy super powers have saved me in the past @ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I am thinking:

From the hitchhiker guide*

Your wormy super powers have saved me in the past @ISpeakForTheSeas

Based on your last pic in particular, I think you're right - Pumpkin Flatworms, A.K.A. Waminoa Flatworms:

Waminoa flatworms are photosynthetic (much like corals, they have symbiotic dinoflagellates living in them) and reportedly feed on coral mucus (not the corals themselves), so they tend to live on our corals - they're essentially harmless, but in mass numbers can basically smother the coral by blocking the light from getting to them.

Looks like it may be a Waminoa sp. - they are known to feed on the coral mucus rather than the coral itself of corals in the family Euphylliidae, as well as mushroom corals. Theoretically, in large numbers these guys could cause problems for corals like stated in the quote* below:
"Apparently, acoels can harm corals by smothering them, which may hinder their respiration, feeding and sediment shedding capacities."

*The link the quote was taken from:

Tissue loss in corals infested by acoelomorph flatworms (Waminoa sp.) - Coral Reefs

link.springer.com

The only confirmed effective method of removal that I'm aware of is a repeated dip and cleaning method (pull any infected corals from the tank, dip them, scrape off any worms/eggs that stay on through the dip, repeat as needed). It may be more effective if you can to dip, scrape, and then put the corals in a different, uninfected tank to wait out the starvation of any eggs/worms in the infected tank, but this may not be possible. The link below has some other ideas you can explore if you'd prefer, but I have no idea if they're effective or not:

EEFW infestation (euphyllia eating flatworms)

Dip them using coral revive. They peel off in seconds using it. I’ve tried other stuff but nothing works even close as good as revive. They spaz right out in seconds and come off the torches Flatworm exit doesn’t work on these at all...

www.reef2reef.com

Edit: Also, here's a link that shows some more known host corals (I would assume these will host on just about any coral they can get too to be honest).

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-Waminoa-specimens-and-their-hosts-a-Specimen-18-host-Echinophyllia-sp_fig2_324516348

 

[SaltwaterScoop]

Based on your last pic in particular, I think you're right - Pumpkin Flatworms, A.K.A. Waminoa Flatworms:

Thanks for help! I couldn't get a good microscope picture, but I could definitely see the dinos at the higher resolution in the tissue. I'm thinking the coral was upset and partially dying and maybe the Waminoas took residence and finished it off? I am not seeing any signs of infection on any of the other LPS, but I do have a Halichoeres leucoxanthus wrasse coming from Marine Collectors to hopefully help out with future control since my leopard wrasses seem to be slacking off .

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'm thinking the coral was upset and partially dying and maybe the Waminoas took residence and finished it off?

It's definitely possible, particularly if no other Euphyllia show signs of an infestation.