Dear ambiguous invertebrate:

Let me start by saying "no, I can't provide you with a macro shot."

I know this is going to be hard to try to identify, but...


I went away for a few days. I came back, to find clusters [maybe 5-6 growing in close proximity] of maybe 3-4 mm anemone-looking creatures.

They look like anemones- the "oral disc" area is a creme color, with what looks like 12 arms radiating from the center. There are some individual ones dispersed throughout the glass. But from what I've noticed, they don't seem to move.


Also, i've found what I'm assuming are some kind of pod... mottled dark brown or black, with a white blotch extending from their front to their middle.. they don't seem to move very much. They're about a centimeter long and half a centimeter thick. They're exoskeleton looks segmented, kind of like a wood louse or pill bug...you know, those small gray armadillo-looking bugs?

 

Ok lets see how i do.

1) Clusters. Because they are creme colored I'm going to lean more toward a little sessile invert rather then an anemone. But I wouldn't rule it out. 94922_20 Do they look at all like this?

2) The second sounds to me like an amphipod. Check out this site, see if any look similar to what you have. Common Pods & Shrimp

 

Ok, well the larger guys are Isopods.

But the little ones definately arent feather dusters. I noticed that they are in an area of high current... they seem to be congregating there. They're tiny and I don't know what they are. They really do resemble tiny anemones.

My snails all buried themselves under the sand. Is this normal? I don't see any "propellors" sticking out.

 

wood louse or pill bug...you know, those small gray armadillo-looking bugs

Pretty much tell you they are Isopods. I just got done posting on them on Reef Sanctuary. Here is soemthing on their biology.


Pills, Parasites, and Predators; Isopods in the Reef Aquarium by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

The other ones, being they are on the glass, don't move, tell me that more than likly the are not anemone or anmeone like animals but Scypha sponges.


Scypha sponges - Google Image Search

 

Did you know the crown of the Scypha/Sycon sponge is calcearous? Neat.

 

Not rerally rick. Sponges are supported by what are called spicules. Spicules are either Siliceous/glass/silica or calcareous (calcite not aragonite). Spicules are the supportive structure of sponges There are many group types of spicules, a key to sponge ID.

The crown, if that is what I think you mean, is called the osculum. Spicules will be more dense in this area to make the osculum opening more rigid.


Here is a simple biology page
sponges


Images of spicules
sponge spicules - Google Image Search

A drawing of a simple sponge