Albino hermit? Flatworm?

Discussion in 'Inverts' started by blackraven1425, May 4, 2010.

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  1. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    So, I was checking out the tank earlier, and noticed this guy walking around on the rocks:

    [​IMG]

    Are albino hermits common? I haven't seen this guy before, and definitely didn't buy him. Could the hermits I have in the tank be breeding? He's a bit smaller than the blue legs.


    Also, when I put the guy back in the tank, I saw this thing next to him:

    [​IMG]

    It's the little reddish-brown spot next to and under it. Would that be a flatworm? There's a couple of them on the glass, and they go around and eat the smaller kinds of pods constantly. By smaller, I mean it mostly eats the ones that are about 1 pixel-sized on this image, not the slightly bigger ones that you can see quite a few of.
     
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  3. haloist

    haloist Skunk Shrimp

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    Hey BlackRaven,
    From your pic, I'm not sure whether that's an albino or not, but I've seen them around. They're surely not common, but not all that rare either (a friend of mine who works at a LFS handpicked one for me that was like the one you're holding). I've never heard of hermit crabs breeding in captivity, but I'm sure it can be done. It could also be a hitchhiker from a live rock you introduced? As for the second picture, I can't really see the flatworms, but I can see cope pods - which indicates a healthy tank. : )
     
  4. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    Well, I haven't put in any new rock since my first batch, and I haven't seen it in the 3 1/2 months I've had the rock in the tank. It seems like an awfully long time to not see a hermit hitchhiker.

    Here's a pic with the (flatworm) thing circled:

    [​IMG]
     
  5. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Yeah, that's a flatworm. Probably Convolutriloba spp. If you have one and your nutrients are under control, it's not a big deal. If you have one and your nutrients are not under control, then you could possibly have a population explosion.