hitchhikers

[Aquatics UK]

Hi,

Ive just noticed lots of little hitchhikers on my corals and live rock can anyone give me an ID please. Unfortunately they mainly come out when the lights are off and are very small so I cant get a photo.

There are hundreds of them from 1-3mm long. They Look like a cross between tiny shrimp but longer with 2 antenna's. They are white/tranparent with what looks like a black backbone or intestine running through them. They are pretty fast for their size.

The recent additions to the tank are quite a large zoanthid colony, a Sinularia and a small candy cane frag but they are especially crawling on the zoas. I assume they came with one of these corals

Any ideas on what they could be and if they could cause an issue or could they just be harmless pods?

Thanks

Dave,

[paraletho]

Amphipods. Most are good guys but there are a couple of species that will irritate Zoas to the point of detriment.

[divewsharks]

agreed sounds like amphipods.
look here: http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

[Aquatics UK]

Thanks.. that looks like the little buggers. Happy to hear they are harmless.