ID Challenge!

looks like some kind of shrimp or sea spider
 
Hydrozoa in the polyp stage?
 
Here is a pic taken from The Reef Aquarium (Volume Two) by Julian Sprung and the caption is

Parazoanthus sp. growing on a hydroid.
 
1 or 2 things I think..

Maybe way out here...BUT it isn't just 1 organism!

I'm gonna guess a symbiotic/parasitic aggregate of Acrozoanthus AND it's host, a Sabellid or Hydroid of some sort.

Some hydroids can exhibit hard,branching form as well .

So basically, soft coral on a stick ?!
(a la tube worm/hydroid)

Or a sticklike Hydroid, looking like a softcoral ?!

Rare in hobby, if I have seen anything LIKE it.
 
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Or a sticklike Hydroid, looking like a softcoral ?!

Bingo. The tubes are brown and translucent (suggesting that they are proteinaceous, not calciferous)-- so it's not a coral. So what has "polyps" that's not a coral or an anemone... gotta be a hydroid of some sort.

Though the parasite Hydroid/coral combo is probably a possibility, I doubt it actually.

Kanga, that's what I thought for a minute too, but no.

In any case... it's weird, isn't it?!
 
Bingo. The tubes are brown and translucent (suggesting that they are proteinaceous, not calciferous)-- so it's not a coral. So what has "polyps" that's not a coral or an anemone... gotta be a hydroid of some sort.

Though the parasite Hydroid/coral combo is probably a possibility, I doubt it actually.

Kanga, that's what I thought for a minute too, but no.

In any case... it's weird, isn't it?!


Damn, i was just about to post and you gave the game away:whistling:
 
damn that was a tough one,couldnt find it in my books
 
Just checked out the thread on WWM and it looks like it is a tough one there as well.
 
Oh, sorry wee-man... I just figure it was over when Obi-wan got it. I see how he earned that "reef guru" badge... ;)

It was a tough ID for me too... I was obsessed about it for a whole day. Finally I got some help from a marine biologist I know. I had guessed hydroids even before I got hold of him, but I didn't know enough to be confident about it. He explained to me about the proteinaceous tubes and all that.
 
Hey Mike! Nice to see ya here!! :) Welcome to MASA!
 
Nah... never left actually... just "listening" to you guys.... not too much to add/post sometimes.
 
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