Hitchhiker ID Needed - Short Video

[Beverly]

We have this red blob thing growing from one of our rocks. It appeared on the rock a couple of months after we moved it from our 37g to our 120g. Don't know why it didn't grow in the 37g.

Anyway, the blob is getting bigger. The blob brushes up against a devil's hand, but does not sting it. Any ideas of what kind of animal this is?

Hitchhiker Red Blob, October 11, 2006 (http://www.lostmymarblz.com/v-120g-red-blob.wmv)
(320 x 240 pixels, 3.9 MB, :50 minutes)

[christyf5]

Neato!:cool: I have no idea what it is. I could have done without the music though :razz:

[Joe Reefer]

I have no idea, my guess is that its cotton candy algae but I could be completly wrong.:mrgreen:

[Reef_kid]

in my studies i have grown and seen a number of large types of ocean cycanobacteria that form a gelly like colonies...
if you can get part of it under a microscope it would be really cool

[Beverly]

Dang. No microscope available.

Tell me more about the cyano jelly stuff, if you can. Pics would be great.

The thing in my tank reminds me of some kind of anemone, if that helps. If you look closely at the video, you can see it is not one big blob, but has nodules. There appears to be air bubbles inside the nodules, though I don't think they are apparent in the video.

[anglfish]

this might be a bit off topic but.... kinda looked like a balet dance you were doing with your finger and the blob...

:biggrin: soooo pretty

[Beverly]

Made another video of the blob today. This time a piece of it broke off. A clip of the piece of blob is at the end of the video....

Red Blob Hitchhiker - Part II (http://www.lostmymarblz.com/v-120g-red-blob-1.wmv)

Maybe someone can offer a better ID after seeing the blob frag :)

[christyf5]

Ok here's my guess:

Predaea weldii

http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/marlife/stepath/images/Predaea_weldii.jpg

P. weldii is found in subtidal habitats, where it grows between the branches of corals, reaching a length of 5 cm. It is extremely soft and gooey, turning into a shapeless blob when out of the water. Although not usually abundant, this seaweed is quickly noticed because the tips of its branches are fluorescent red.

from: http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/marlife/stepath/rhodophyta2.html (http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/marlife/stepath/rhodophyta2.html)


Also see: http://seaslug.info/display.cfm?id=8479 (http://seaslug.info/display.cfm?id=8479)

[Beverly]

Christy,

Someone on another board suggested Predaea weldii, too. After Googling it, I found the exact pic and quote you just posted :)

Don't think that's what my blob is, though. It doesn't have fluorescent tips either in full MH plus actinic, or in actinic only lighting. The frag retained its shape when removed from the tank for about a minute while I got a bowl and some tankwater to put it in. At the time of this writing, the frag had been in the bowl of tankwater on a cold window sill for the last 3 hours and it's still rataining its shape. 15 minutes ago, I drained the water. Just checked it and it's still got its shape.

This thing has not stung me through all the handling both in and out of the tank. It hasn't moved from the rock since we first started noticing it about 4-6 weeks ago, when I thought it was a small mushroom. It does not retract when touched, nor does it retract at night. Doesn't get bigger at night, either.

In the first video, you can better see the bubbles inside the blob's polyp-y things. It seems to be more animal than vegetable, but now having accidentally fragged it, I'm not sure it's even animal anymore.

I'm stumped!

[Veng68]

send a picture of it to one of the magazine or Dr Ron.

CHeers,
Vic [veng68]

[anglfish]

could it be that you found a new species?

are you going to call it "the Bev" ?

:mrgreen:
(sorry this post does not add any value to this thread)

[Beverly]

send a picture of it to one of the magazine or Dr Ron.

Vic,

Dr. Ron won't be back until Saturday, so I can't post it on his forum until then. He might be one of the better folks to post it to. Then, I was thinking of Eric Borneman, but he's been getting threats and bad cr*p happening on his forum, so he's not available until whatever's going on there is cleared up :neutral:

What magazines were you thinking of? I don't have any pics (can't take a good pic for the life of me), but I can send one or both videos. If you have addresses of magazines, I'd appreciate having them. Thanks :)

Angela,

You make me smile :)

[christyf5]

Bev, you could try Calfos forum on the Marine Depot website as well. Sometimes he's pretty handy with the ID's. I swear I've seen that algae before somewhere, I wonder if its in one of his books.:confused:

[Veng68]

On second though maybe a forum is better (you will get faster results).

If you must try a magazine..........

Try Charles Delbeek at Aquarium Fish Magazine:
http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/classifieds/request_form.asp

choose reef aquarist.

if it catches his fancy..... he may answer quickly.

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

[Beverly]

Arrrggghhh!! My computer's been messing up :twised:

Christy,

Just posted the videos and a whole bunch of info to Calfo's forum. Hope he can "Name That Blob" :)

Vic,

Have just made my querie to Aquarium Fish Magazine. Thanks for the link :)

[Beverly]

Someone on RC suggested a broader search for the genus Predaea.

After MORE Googling, found this pic looks quite a bit like my blob, complete with bubbles inside. Pic is from.....

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/ukalgesp.htm

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/images/predlac.jpg

ID would be Predaea laciniosa if the above image and what I have are the same.

What do y'all think? Could this be the correct ID?

[Delphinus]

Well, my first guess would have been Padabaleaaeyayyae-i-e-i-o labeedoobydoobydoo but I suppose Predaea laciniosa seems plausible enough as well.

[AJ_77]

must... stop... laughing...

Padabaleaaeyayyae-i-e-i-o labeedoobydoobydoo

hey, try saying that even once...



But yeah, so what Bev has is a funky red alga that occupies outer reef slopes? cool.

[Beverly]

Tried saying it THREE times, and still can't get it right :lol: :razz: :wink:

Also IDed another red macroalgae, Gracilaria abbottiana, in my reef from that page....

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/images/graciab.jpg

And some coralline, Mastophora pacifica, too....

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/images/mastpac.jpg

Still have one more MA that needs ID. It looks like Amansia rhodantha, but not quite....

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/images/mamengl.jpg

That is a cool page for macroaglae ID :biggrin:

[Beverly]

Gads! I'm on a macroalgae roll :biggrin:

Used to have lots of Codium edule until the tank change, from.....

http://uhs2-204-1.crdg.hawaii.edu/hws/FMPro?-db=HawaiiWatersheds_&-lay=all&-format=new.htm&-view

http://www.hawaii.edu/environment/marineorganisms/GreenAlgaeGifs/Codium%20edulef

Have some Peyssonnelia sp. ....

http://www.poppe-images.com/images/image_info.php?picid=915078

And from here....

http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/47/980/Peyssonnellia/sp.htm

We have a rock encrusted with this Peyssonnelia sp. ....

http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/images/980.jpg


Now, back to the blob. Quote from Anthony Calfo...

It looks like it could be a Nemastoma species (see page 104 of my Reef Invertebrates book plus text entry).

Anybody have this book for reference?

Here's a pic of a Nemastoma sp. from here....

http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/Red/redbulb/Nemastoma2.htm

http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/Red/redbulb/Nemastoma2.jpg

But other photos from algaebase.org do not look anything like our blob. Very confusing :neutral:

[Beverly]

WOW!! I am totally stunned with surprise and respect for Charles Delbeek :smilecol:

He saw the videos I posted to Aquarium Fish Magazine, and sent me an email from Hawaii where he's vacationing. He says when he gets back to his library at home, he's going to try to ID the genus of our red blob. Like, WOW, man :cool:

Thanks, Vic, for the great suggestion :)

[Delphinus]

He may be on vacation but he actually lives there since he's the curator of the Waikiki Aquarium (or one of them). Anyhow that's cool that you'll get a response from him. :)

[Beverly]

After a bit of back and forth with Charles Delbeek, this is what he's concluded about our red blob....

It is virtually impossible to accurately ID macroalgae from photos of whole specimens. Some species even have completely different growth forms in different parts of their life cycle (e.g. Aspharagopsis (sp??)). Anyone who does any sort of macroalgae taxonomic work can only ID to species using a microscope and even then it is not 100% for certain they will get the right species. So my advice is to just call it Predaea sp., you will not be able to ID to species without a taxonomic key and a microscope and several years experience.

Seems pretty harmless to me and easily controlled. Enjoy it while you can, many macroalgae are seasonal.

So, Predaea sp. it is :)