Unidentified organism found under rock

[Tabitha20634]

We recently had a really bad outbreak of ick and are in the process of finishing up controlling it, eradicating it, and quarantining the fish and coral that survived. While scrubbing some algae off a rock we discovered this little guy I tried using Google lens to see if it was something harmful I believe this was on a live rock we got from a reef convention

in Orlando that was taken from the Tampa area Can anyone confirm what this may be and if it is harmful thank you in advance

 

[Jay Hemdal]

We recently had a really bad outbreak of ick and are in the process of finishing up controlling it, eradicating it, and quarantining the fish and coral that survived. While scrubbing some algae off a rock we discovered this little guy I tried using Google lens to see if it was something harmful I believe this was on a live rock we got from a reef convention

in Orlando that was taken from the Tampa area Can anyone confirm what this may be and if it is harmful thank you in advance

Interesting!

My guess would be either a colonial bryozoan or a colonial tunicate - neither are harmful.

There is also a possibility that it is a sponge, but that network pattern doesn’t match up.

 

[Jekyl]

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sponge and need brighter light to determine type

 

[Tabitha20634]

Interesting!

My guess would be either a colonial bryozoan or a colonial tunicate - neither are harmful.

There is also a possibility that it is a sponge, but that network pattern doesn’t match up.

Thank you he’s kind of a cute little guy. He looks like a little section of brain. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t harmful. That rock we got is pretty cool. It always has things popping up on it. I hope to get some more next year’s convention.

 

[dakoop]

Have you ever seen the movie "The Blob"?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@ISpeakForTheSeas

Hard to say for sure from the pic, but that's either a sponge or a colonial tunicate; I'm leaning toward sponge, but clear, slightly brighter, white light pics would be helpful in saying for sure.

Generally, sponges with patterns like this have the ridges coming from/leading to the oscula (the larger, out-current holes) - I think I can see this in a few places, but I can't say for sure from the pics. For some examples, though (sorry, there's a lot - some are faint, some are obvious, so I thought they would show some good variation to compare with):

Crambe crambe Red Encrusting Sponge, Orange-Red Encrusting Sponge, Bumping Encrusting Sponge

Crambe crambe is commonly referred to as Red Encrusting Sponge, Orange-Red Encrusting Sponge, Bumping Encrusting Sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: Not suitable for aquarium keeping. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Echinochalina sp.01 Sponge

Echinochalina sp.01 is commonly referred to as Sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: Average. A aquarium size of at least 50 Liter is recommended. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Monanchora arbuscula Pink Lumpy sponge

Monanchora arbuscula is commonly referred to as Pink Lumpy sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: Not suitable for aquarium keeping. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Spirastrella coccinea Orange smooth encrusting sponge

Spirastrella coccinea is commonly referred to as Orange smooth encrusting sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: Experts only! Very hard to keep. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Spirastrella hartmani Peach encrusting sponge

Spirastrella hartmani is commonly referred to as Peach encrusting sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: Not suitable for home aquaria!. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Placospherastra antillensis Marine Sponge

Placospherastra antillensis is commonly referred to as Marine Sponge. Difficulty in the aquarium: There are no reports available yet that this animal has already been kept in captivity successfully. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.

www.reeflex.net

Placospongia sp.01 Sponge

Placospongia sp.01 is commonly referred to as Sponge.

www.reeflex.net

Edit: Ah, I remembered another good example from a while back:

Tampa Bay Saltwater Real Live Rock

Check out this amazing bivalve harvested from the million pounds on Monday! Anyone have an id? @ISpeakForTheSeas Looks like a Chama sp. (Jewelbox Clam) - probably either C. brassica, C. macerophylla, or C. pellucida. Out of the three, my guess would be the Leafy Jewelbox Clam, C. macerophylla...

www.reef2reef.com