What is this on my hammer?

[Kasrift]

I got a hammer Coral from SBB and it has something growing on it's stock. When I first pulled it out of the bag, I thought nothing of it, but it was squishy to the touch. It didn't do anything in the dip.

Fast forward a few weeks and I realized it has feeder tentacles. I don't think it is a new hammer head and I don't think it's a typical pest from something wild since I assume SBB has tank grown corals. Did one of their corals spawn and land on this hammer?



If you saw another of my posts, this is the best I can get on a Fluval Flex due to the curved glass. This is zoomed in with a macro lens on an orphek lens kit on my iPhone 12. I can zoom in more, but the curved makes the image worse. Here is another from the side some (again curve messes up shooting sideways) and you can see it is growing out from the stock of the hammer.

 

[MERKEY]

Id say barnical but I'm not sure what it is but if it were me I'd take it out of the tank and scrape it off.



If you want to try to keep it in an isolation box to identify it that would be cool.

 

[Kasrift]

Not sure that it is a barnacle since it is soft. Here is a video with a flashlight since the lights are ramping down and you can see it react to the light…


Edited, video didn’t work. I hate iPhones , but it is my work phone and takes better pictures. Why is the movie format .mov…

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I don't have any idea what it is, but it's super cool! Lol

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Is the hammer glued down? If not, can you/have you tried removing the unknown critter from the skeleton?

 

[Kasrift]

The “critter” is permanent. The hammer is not glued down. Whatever it is it has tentacles, is soft, and has a crystal like look to it. It reacts to light and the edge tentacles all wave.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Let's bring in the big guns...
@ISpeakForTheSeas , any thoughts?

 

[Kasrift]

I'd also not think it is a barnacle because it came from a reputable vendor SBB which I'd assume an orange hammer would just be a staple grown coral in Shane's grow out tanks. That is why I'm wondering if some of his corals spawned and this is something else. Like I mentioned, it really has a crystalline shine to it like a Koji Wada does on it's stalk.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'd also not think it is a barnacle because it came from a reputable vendor SBB which I'd assume an orange hammer would just be a staple grown coral in Shane's grow out tanks. That is why I'm wondering if some of his corals spawned and this is something else. Like I mentioned, it really has a crystalline shine to it like a Koji Wada does on it's stalk.

Definitely not a barnacle.

 

[Just John]

Definitely not a barnacle.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Possibly a single polyp of Cladocora arbuscula?

 

[Kasrift]

Possibly a single polyp of Cladocora arbuscula?

Maybe. I'll try feeding it some mysis tomorrow.

 

[FreshSaltH2o]

Curious, Does it have any colors with uv or blue light?

 

[Kasrift]

Curious, Does it have any colors with uv or blue light?

Nope, lights just went out and I just checked with my UV flashlight and no color or fluorescence. Good idea though.

 

[FreshSaltH2o]

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

The “critter” is permanent. The hammer is not glued down. Whatever it is it has tentacles, is soft, and has a crystal like look to it. It reacts to light and the edge tentacles all wave.

Is each of those little, dot-like things going around the outside an individual tentacle, or do they each have multiple tentacles, or do they all open like little funnels? (I'm assuming the dot like things either are the feeder tentacles or have them on them - is that correct?)

Also, is that big black spot in the middle an opening into the organism (possibly a funnel-like opening)?

If it's a coral, then a Cladocora sp. would be one of my first guesses, but I'm not very well-versed with corals yet. That said, the dots look like little funnels from what I can see (and the big spot looks like it may be an opening too), so I'm wondering if it may be a colonial tunicate species of some kind.

 

[Kasrift]

Is each of those little, dot-like things going around the outside an individual tentacle, or do they each have multiple tentacles, or do they all open like little funnels? (I'm assuming the dot like things either are the feeder tentacles or have them on them - is that correct?)

Also, is that big black spot in the middle an opening into the organism (possibly a funnel-like opening)?

If it's a coral, then a Cladocora sp. would be one of my first guesses, but I'm not very well-versed with corals yet. That said, the dots look like little funnels from what I can see (and the big spot looks like it may be an opening too), so I'm wondering if it may be a colonial tunicate species of some kind.

It does look like each tentacle has a fan, hard to tell with it so small. And the center is most definitely a mouth. I'll test for a feeding reaction with reef roids and mysis today and update this.

 

[Troylee]

phyllangia is what it looks like.. cool hitch hiker if so! I had some on a live rock that never bothered anything.look Like this in person?

 

[Kasrift]

phyllangia is what it looks like.. cool hitch hiker if so! I had some on a live rock that never bothered anything.look Like this in person?

Doesn't look like that at all. I'm very excited to find out what it is though, critter id and hitchhikers can be fun. This doesn't look like it can spread, it is attached to the stalk of the hammer and hasn't moved in two weeks. The tentacles are too short to be what is in the picture.

 

[Kasrift]

For what it is worth, the hammer was sold as an indo orange hammer. Very beautiful piece. Maybe that will help some people trying to help out with identification, since it is from the indo region