I think I have found a Cirolanid Isopod in my tank, pls help ID

[dcforester1]

I have had my tank running for alittle over a year. I try to QT, and dip everything that goes in. I am not 100% sure on QTing so I could have missed something. After lights out tonight, I noticed these two guys on some rock. I inspect my tank everynight, but never noticed them. I havnt added anything in awhile. and I am not to happy.

I was wondering if someone could help identify, and offer some solutions to take care of this. I tried looking it up, but the pics I am seeing for Cirolanid Isopod they look more translucent, and they say they attach to fish. I havnt had any fish deaths, and everything looks healthy.

All suggs would be appreciated

TIA Derek

[stormrider27]

Maybe this will help: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php

[Atlanticmarine]

Yes sir..... Cirolanid it is... Must have some Atlantic rock..... Drop the salinity to 1.020 for a day and if possible remove the rock and dip it for no more than 5 minutes in a. Hyper saline concentration around 3 times normal and then rinse it off if normal saline water and put it back in your tank. Be sure to bring the salinity over the next 24 hours. They don't harm your corals and are near impossible to irradiate unless you hyper salivate them.... The tuff outer shell and the suction they have keeps them happy for months if you try drying the rocks off out of the water for a few weeks.

[jcolletteiii]

Nope, wrong phylum. That belongs to the phylum Mollusca, not Athropoda. Class - Polyplacophera meaning many-plated, tehy're a class of molluscs with multiple plates. It's a chiton!

[kingfisher62]

Agreed it is a chiton, Beneficial hitchiker!

[dcforester1]

Thanks guys I was doing some reading, and found something saying it was a Sphaeromatids, if it rolls into a ball which it did. What kills these type parasites? I know these are beneficial, but the bad ones how do you get rid of them when putting something new in???

I look at my tank everynight, and never seen one, pretty creepy.

[jcolletteiii]

If you pried it off of the rocks, you probably damaged/killed it. Look at the ventral side of the animal. If it is an arthropod (and isopod) it will have legs. If it is a chiton it will have a single slimy muscular 'foot'. Should be pretty easy to diagnose. Also, isopods have rather prominent compound eyes, chitons most definitely do not. If the shell of the the animal is CaCO3 (calcium carbonate) it's a chiton - will fizz with dilute acid (like vinegar), but the somites of arthropods are chitin (HOW IRONIC IS THAT?!), which will definitely not fizz with a mild acid. The legs or no legs thing should clinch it though.

[jcolletteiii]

Boston, huh? I used to live in W. MA - near Northampton. You guys have a great club in Boston - some of the best corals I've ever seen come out of that club. Greg Hiller's and Aquaman's sps are legendary.

[dcforester1]

Is fizz good or bad. I think I lost you on that part.

Thanks for the help

Derek

[kingfisher62]

I grew up in Framingham , 20 miles outside of Boston.

I could be wrong but it sure looks like a chiton to me. Here is a pic of the one i have. They do look similar.

[dcforester1]

Gregs a good guy. I live about 10min from him. This thing looked more white in the tank, and turned alittle brown once out. I dont have any trouble with any of my fish. Wouldnt they be bothering them??

[kingfisher62]

I found this and also was googlling some images of isopods. They are evil looking creatures especially the tongue eating variety.
http://http://www.nano-reef.com/invertebrates/?id=3 (http://www.nano-reef.com/invertebrates/?id=3)

check out these images
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=isopod&FORM=BIFD#

[dcforester1]

The picture on the ReefKeeping article looks exactly like what I have in Fig.1 That has me worried.

[kingfisher62]

I am glad I have never seen those things in my tank!

[dancewithethan]

it looks to me like this one. http://home.inreach.com/burghart/

if it so, it's a keeper. I have it in my tank also.

Best

[dcforester1]

In this article http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php, dont you think it looks like the one on the right in Fig.1?

In the article it says if it rolls up it is OK, mine did. The other guy said something about it fizzing in Vinegar. mine didnt, I dont what that means.

Does anyone have any exp with these, and know how to get rid of them?

TIA Derek

[jcolletteiii]

I am an arthropod paleontologist - I know my bugs pretty well. What your photos look like is a chiton, not an isopod. Your images show no evidence of compound eyes - strike 1; they show no evidence of thin cuticle (which isopods have and chitons do not) - strike 2; your critters have 7 plates from front to back tops - all isopods I am familiar (admittedly few species) have at least 6 dorsal tergites (the main thorax-covering dorsal plates), a large cephalic (head) tergite in addition to the head, and a fuzed, multi somite telson or abdominal covering, so your critters have no where near the number of dorsal plates for them to possibly be isopods - strike three, you're OUT!!! Plus, isopods have LEGS!!! Do your critters have legs?

The morphological data available pretty conclusively rules out isopod as the suspect. I have that exact same species of chiton in my tanks.

Edit: I'll accept a piece of Greg Hiller's blueberry Acro for this diagnosis! ;)

[jcolletteiii]

As an aside: marine isopods and pillbugs (sowbugs) are the same group of arthropods, which is also really cool. Pillbugs are air-breathing crustaceans that live on land - pretty neat. I think isopods are awesome. I'd love to get on of those gargantuan behemoths you see in pictures for an isopod display tank.

[dcforester1]

J thank you so much for the diagnosis. I feel better about it now. Thanks for taking the time to look into it for me.


Derek

[jcolletteiii]

No problems Derek. It was a fun thought exercise - and isopods are really cool too!

[paulthomas]

But wait, there's more!

I don't know, brudda. Looks like cirolanid isopods to me.

Fig. 1 from the Reefkeeping article:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/HouseHead/cf3c7d8f.jpg

The photo from your text message (especially the top critter):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/HouseHead/996d6055.jpg

If you blow your photo up, like with an iPhone, it's painfully obvious. Kidd, you gawt blood suckin' isopawds! And on that note...

Sweet dreams! :lol2:

[jcolletteiii]

Hopefully, that was sarcasm! If you look at the two pictures, there are WAAYY more diffferences than similarities. Here's a quick illustrator drawing that shows how the two are incompatible.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1063&pictureid=13530

Notice the EYES of the isopod - I've traced them and arrowed them as well for the benefit of those who don't seem to notice their presence in on of the taxa we're comparing here.

Next, I'd like to call your attention to the marginal rim. A chiton possesses this character, but the isopod does not - poor guy, might make him look more innocuous, kinda like a chiton maybe?

Oh, notice the number of plates on the chiton, compared with the number of somites on the isopod? Hmm... they're different! No way! Dude! Chitons do not add plates as they grow, the pates enalarge, so this is not a juvenile isopod wearing a skirt.

Once again, all the OP would have to do to dispell the isopod hypothesis would be to look on the ventral side. No legs - chiton, legs = not chiton. Fun stuff.

[paulthomas]

Hopefully, that was sarcasm! If you look at the two pictures, there are WAAYY more diffferences than similarities. Here's a quick illustrator drawing that shows how the two are incompatible.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1063&pictureid=13530

Notice the EYES of the isopod - I've traced them and arrowed them as well for the benefit of those who don't seem to notice their presence in on of the taxa we're comparing here.

Next, I'd like to call your attention to the marginal rim. A chiton possesses this character, but the isopod does not - poor guy, might make him look more innocuous, kinda like a chiton maybe?

Oh, notice the number of plates on the chiton, compared with the number of somites on the isopod? Hmm... they're different! No way! Dude! Chitons do not add plates as they grow, the pates enalarge, so this is not a juvenile isopod wearing a skirt.

Once again, all the OP would have to do to dispell the isopod hypothesis would be to look on the ventral side. No legs - chiton, legs = not chiton. Fun stuff.

Does this guy know how to party or what? Ah? Ah? OK...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/HouseHead/fd11d77d.jpg

Doo, I'm comparing the little guy (top critter in the photo from Derek):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/HouseHead/996d6055.jpg

to the SECOND critter (Fig. 1) from the cirolanid isopod article:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/HouseHead/cf3c7d8f.jpg

I'm going by what I see in these two pho-toes I posted. I may be wrong, which is totally fine by me. So relaaaaax...

:lol2:

[mscarpena]

same color, but that is all. I agree chitons. No eyes is the dead give away. Even if they are isopods not the end of the world. I had a few running around and you just suck them out with a turkey basket. They are fats, but it can be done.

[whorulz1147]

poor, defenseless chitons..... ripped from their peaceful slumber by a case of mistaken identity....

[Apercula]

A Sphaeromatid Isopod I took out of my tank a while back.
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii150/Ganrin/isopod2.jpg
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii150/Ganrin/Isopod1.jpg

At the time I took those pictures I had dozens of them, but I haven't seen any in over a year. Isopods have noticeable eyes and legs, even very small ones like the one I pictured. I agree with the chiton id.

Edit--> I forgot to mention, When I got a positive ID of sphaeromatid isopod on my critter I was told they are harmless/beneficial, and I noticed no harmful effects from their presence in my tank.

[paulthomas]

The verdict is in.

:hammer:

Well, after reviewing the irrefutable evidence (plates vs. somites, ah hem... full marginal rim, etc.) provided by the good arthropod paleontologist, I have to concur that these critters are chitlins.

Now I'm hOngry and wanna get ma eat on. :thumbsup: ;)

Yeah, I thought that due to the angle, an eye on the right side of the head was possibly out of view. Sorry Derek, I was wrong. I'll refund you my consulting fee. :twitch:

[noahm]

All picture similarities aside (no question, they are chitons, although confusion is understandable from the pic), there is no isopod that is going to sit there while you take it off of a rock. They are highly mobile runners and swimmers. It would be like trying to catch one of those whirligig water beetles.