dsoz Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 I was cleaning my filter sock, and in the process I always check through it to see if there is anything that can be saved (stomatella, snails, amphipods, bristle worms, etc). I ran across a HUGE flatworm. This sucker is between 3/4 and 1 inch long. I gotta find my camera, and when I do I will take some pics before I dose him with FWE. I guess I gotta get some carbon so I can FWE my tank... AGAIN. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 OK here are pictures: It is larger than my index finger when all stretched out. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Are you sure El Giganto flatworm is a badguy? I seem to remember reading a response from Shimek somewhere (Marine Depot forums maybe?) that the bigger boogerbugs aren't evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 even if not evil, I don't like the idea of having it in my tank... So it will just not get put back in for now. Like I said, kinda cool, but kinda gross. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefaquarist Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 if those are what i think they are i have a bunch they come out at night in my tank. theve been there for sometime and currently my ntank is the nicest its been yet. soo if there what i have there prob not bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 It is NOT a stomatella (slug looking thing with a small shield for a shell). It is truly a flatworm, just a very large one. I have never seen one this big (and I was a biology major in college). dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defigart Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Looks like a "flatworm" to me also. I haven't seen one that big ever either. I said "flatworm" because I don't know for sure that it is in the Phylum Platyhelminthes, but it appears to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Looking through one of my reference books (I recommend this one) "Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific" by Terrence M. Gosliner, David W. Behrens, and Gary C. Williams, it may be a "Polyclad Flatworm". Possibly Paraplanaria oligoglena. "Polyclad flatworms get their name from having "many" branches to their gut. They bear numerous eyes on the head... Polyclads feed on a variety of colonial ascidians and smaller marine animals, which may include other flatworm species. This behavior demonstrates non-specificity in their diet..." I think it would be great to find a flatworm species that feeds on those predatory and nuisance flatworms. It might make Flatworm Exit a thing of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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