sea squirt

[RMX]

i have something on a piece of liverock that i think is a sea squirt. its brown in color and has 2 extended tubes apart from each other that can open and close/retract.

the size of the thing has shrunk by 1/3 already. used to be 20ct size. think its lack of food. what does it eat?

[Achilles Tang]

Live plankton.

[RMX]

so if it doesnt get live plankton, it will jus shrink to nothing and disappear ?

[Achilles Tang]

Naturally, as would most plankton feeding sea creatures.

Unless your tank is producing minute amounts of plankton like shrimp spawn, or you feed it with plankton substitutes... it will disappear soon.

[Limpc]

Hi,

does newly hatched brine shrimp considered as plankton ?

Rgds,

Limpc

[Tanzy]

Hi,

does newly hatched brine shrimp considered as plankton ?

Rgds,

Limpc

To a blue whale it is!

Plankton is such a big class of organisms that are floating around in the water column.

I've had sea squirts in my tanks for years without feeding them.

[Achilles Tang]

Here's a pix of some tiny seasquirts in my current tank's refugium!

[RMX]

the one on the liverock looks similar but its opaque beige and attached to the rock

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Here's a pix of some tiny seasquirts in my current tank's refugium!

Hey, this is interesting. I mean I have seen sea squirts of all sizes from 2mm to 1.5" but they all occur and exist indendently. In your pic, I can see a runner giving way to new offsprings much in the same way as Caulerpa. So these animals actually propagate like plants! How long have they been in the tank in order to multiply this much?

What a squirt of an eye opener for me!

Heh after a second look, they do bear some semblance of a cluster of Mickey Mouse heads Cute stuff!

[Achilles Tang]

My tank has been around for 2 years plus... only noticed these 'mickey mouse' tunicates recently... about a few months back.

They are transparent and I happened to be using a flashlight to peer around and there they were!!

Interesting right?