SPS-eating red "mites"

[Reef Fever]

Eric-

I am heading to a friend's house to see what I have heard described as an amazing display of SPS corals in several large tanks. However, they have an infestation of some kind of red mites that are plaguing their SPS colonies, especially the Acropora. I have done some searches, and saw one thread where you had discussed them briefly, but it was over a year ago and I thought there may be more information available now.

I will be coming away with some frags, which I will be putting in a small 20-gallon quarantine system that is not connected to any of my other systems. I have 110-watts of PC lighting on the tank, so I should be able to keep them going awhile in there.

I have not seen the specimens yet, so I don't have a firsthand description- but I know this is a very dangerous parasite that I do not want in my tanks. My understanding from the owners of the tanks is that the bugs are definately aggravating/ stunting growth/ causing tissue damage in the worst cases. Is there treatment for this? Will natural predators help? Are they too small for a Mandarin Dragonet to help with? Any references you can give me on this will be greatly appreciated- there are countless rare SPS colonies in about 800 Gallons of water in the apartment I will be visiting.

Thanks again,

Darren

[griss]

Sorry to but in here, but here is a link to a thread with a lot of information on these creatures.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&postid=674889#post674889

Griss

[Reef Fever]

I appreciate that Griss- yes, I have been following that thread but I was interested in what Eric may know concerning possible new developments in this situation, as the only comments I have seen from him on this issue are over a year old.

There is a lot of good input on that thread, but ya know some opinions are worth more than others at times.

:D

[saltshop]

FWIW, I managed to get rid of the bugs by getting the coral healthy again and not vice versa. The last I knew these were simply a type of amphipod, although all little red "bugs" may not be the same. In my own tank they existed before the problems and still exist now on the rock work, but no longer on the coral. I began adding a substance to the tank that would induce a feeding response from the corals and the polyps on the infected(?) colony started to extend its radial polyps within a few hours, something I had not seen in well over six months. It is now about a month later and the coral has regained some color and its axial polyps and has begun to grow again over the dead skeleton. I had already fragged away almost half the colony as it had died. I am trying to photodocument the corals recovery...I just wish I had taken a pic when it was really ugly and dying. If all goes well over the next few months I will be happy to send out some of the substance to buds like Griss and volunteers with the problem to see if the results are the same or close to it. I am not going to say what it is at the moment and even if I get to the point of sending it out it will be in unmarked containers...so it will be a mystery. ;) Not that I don't want people to know what it is (and it isn't related to red slime remover btw), but that way it would be more of a blind test to see if the results are worth exploring more. My own personal experience leads me to believe that the amphipods are simply doing their job on a stressed coral, but I know it is hard to admit that maybe something in our tanks is less than ideal so I am sure many would fight that comment tooth and nail so keep in mind it is just my opinion. :D

[Reef Fever]

Somehow I don't think you would convince me to put something in my reef if I didn't know EXACTLY what it was, and was able to thoroughly check out the possible repercussions.

No offense intended.

:rolleyes:

[saltshop]

Originally posted by Reef Fever
Somehow I don't think you would convince me to put something in my reef if I didn't know EXACTLY what it was, and was able to thoroughly check out the possible repercussions.

No offense intended.

:rolleyes:


LOL, no need to roll the eyes, but no offense taken. If it makes you feel any better, Eric mentions the mystery substance(s) in his book more than once and suggests the possible use to elicit a feeding response in stressed corals. Which is exactly what I did added the substance to elicit a feeding response in a stressed coral and so far it has been a small wonder. It is no miracle elixer by Marc Weiss or anything like that, just some naturally occuring chemicals that spur corals to feed in the wild after being excreted by zooplankton and can be used for the same purpose in a tank. Yuri Sorokin's "Coral Reef Ecology" also mentions the substance in the section on mechanisms of heterotrophic feeding of corals. No magic, just a simple non-toxic molecule. :D

Everyone seems to be automatically labeling the amphipods as parasitic, while it may just be that they are opportunistic. Instead of focusing on how to eradicate what is probably normal fauna, I am suggesting that it might be prudent to focus on the animal itself and possible stressors and remedies to "fix the coral and the bugs will go elsewhere".

[Mako]

So where does one find GSH or proline these days?

[Mako]

Oops, never mind. A quick search on the web solved that one. :D I will have to stop at the health food place tomorrow and pick up some. Any suggestions as for dosage/usage. It would be nice to draw on your experience with it to date.

[EricHugo]

I don't have any further information beyond what are in the threads and what others expereince have been except that I have now seen them in person. For whatever that's worth. After having asked crustacean researchers on a listserve, none have any knowledge of any parasitic amphipod, but were not surprised to hear one might exist. I would still very much like a sample of them, careful documentation of their behavior, and perhaps something could be found out about them. I'd be happy to try if someone wants to help me out with these criteria.

[Reef Fever]

Eric, I will pick up some infected frags tomorrow. I will get with you on shipping you a sample once I have them in hand. Thanks for your assitance. I will try to choose one of the most affected specimens.

[EricHugo]

Fantastic! I'll get a tank set up for the coral and attached critters, observe them, document them, try to identify them (or get someone to do it), and write it up.

[saltshop]

Originally posted by EricHugo
....try to identify them (or get someone to do it)....

Eric,

Didn't Ron already ID these as stenothoid amphipods from the samples sent to him? It would be nice if someone could ID it to species level though if even possible.

A stenothoid:
http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/nsf/fguide/kc3804-12.jpg

The amphipod in question:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=884783&size=md

[EricHugo]

Yeah, he did...but we definitely need to go all the way with this thing - complete description, for sure ID, see if a new species, document behavior, etc. getting to the level Ron did, while admirable, is about the equivalent of saying its a "stony coral" or a "wrasse". This is going to take a "pod" taxonomist.

[saltshop]

Hehe...breaking out the "pod people", huh...cool? A new species would be exciting for all, unless of course they do turn out to be parasitic! :D

[zt allstar]

Any new info on this situation?

[EricHugo]

nope - I have yet to have any sent to me tht arrived in good shape, or a lviing piece with the bugs. Ron has looked at them more extensively. I don't know of anyone investigatign them carefully. I'd be happy to do it, were I able to get a piece of "infested" coral.

[fenderfreak101]

Eric,

i live in livingston, about an hour north of you, if you would like, i can hand deliver an acro frag that has them crawling all over it. if so, just give me an email at: fenderfreak101@hotmail.com

jarrod

[Jimbo327]

Is the bug under the microscope now, Eric? :D

Jim