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Merk 
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 Topic: Need amphipod ID please
Posted: November 16 2006 at 12:19am |
Hi all,
I discovered some very fast amphipod looking crustaceans in my tank. They come out at night, they are white with a red blotch covering the back of their heads and part of their backs. I don't know if they are actually amphipods but since they move so fast they seem to look kind of like them only that they don't crawl on their sides. They like to chase eachother around the rocks. As far as I can tell they aren't bothering any corals or other creatures. Eric Borneman talked about microscopic amphipods with read heads that harm acropora corals but the ones in my tank are the size of normal amphipods. So I'm kind of ruling those out.
I have never seen these kinds before and this is why I am asking. Anyone know? Thanks!
Edited by Merk - November 16 2006 at 12:32am
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Firefish
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Posted: November 16 2006 at 1:56am |
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They could be mysis shrimp. Generally you will find an abundance of 1 copepod sp., 1 amphipod sp., and one mysis sp., that thrives in the home aquarium. Sometimes you might find something else but not often. My guess without pictures is mysis shrimp.
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5 gal fluval spec v http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=65727&KW=&PID=531710&title=my-new-little-one#531710 12 gallon jbj nanocube reef Stansbury Park (Tooele Area)
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Merk
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Posted: November 16 2006 at 2:32pm |
I am almost sure that they are not mysis shrimp but I would like to add some mysis to my tank if any of you have some extras laying around. The things in my tank seem to be too short and stubby to be mysis shrimp.
Edited by Merk - November 16 2006 at 2:36pm
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 18 2006 at 9:41am |
Copepod:
Size: the ones we see in our tanks are about as small as a grain of salt, but "Tigger Pods" from Amie and www.reedmariculture.com are ~1/8" :
Mysid Shrimp are usually mistaken for baby fish. They swim swiftly around sometimes in circles and figure eights near rock surfaces or on the bottom and often in the back corners of our tanks. Here is the best pic I have found:
Size ~ 1/4"
This is a very good pic of the Grammerus we see in our tanks. It is an Amphipod. It is the largest of the three:
Size ~ 1/8" - 1/2"
Edited by Mark Peterson - November 18 2006 at 9:45am
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Merk
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Posted: November 18 2006 at 3:46pm |
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Thanks for the info Mark. I'm positve they are not copepods and not Tigger pods. Have you guys heard of "sea fleas"? They are territorial and they will bite you like red ants. Chris at Fish 4 U mentioned them to me and I'm thinking that they just might be "sea fleas" becuase he described them exactly. They are extremely fast and nimble on the rocks. They remind me of red ants on the sidewalk. They are ghost white with a bright red blotch on top of their heads going down to the middle of their thorax. Anyway as far as Chris knew they don't harm anything but the other night I saw one trying to bully a snail off of his rock....interesting creatures.
Edited by Merk - November 18 2006 at 3:49pm
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Merk
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Posted: November 18 2006 at 4:07pm |
 Okay I just found this on the web. It's a red eye sea flea. This looks like what I have except the front part of the thorax and head is red on my species. So for the moment I'll call them sea fleas until I am sure.
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 19 2006 at 1:37am |
Have you guys heard of "sea fleas"? They are territorial and they will bite you like red ants.
Ask my wife about them. She's been bitten many times and can tell you about it.
Adam
ps- Jake's had fleas
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 19 2006 at 2:22am |
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Thanks for the pic and the id.
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Boomer
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Posted: November 21 2006 at 5:47pm |
Merk
What you have is a common Harpacticoida copepod, they are very common and there are hundreds of species.
http://www.crustacea.net/crustace/www/harpacti.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/rs/index.php
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