# WTH is this???



## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

I found a few of these guys swimming in my shrimp tank. They just appeared out of nowhere. Can anyone identify these guys? Are they harmful to shrimps?


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Probably two planarias in the first pic but not sure what the other thing is. Do those two have a triangular head? Anyway, I'll try to remove them if they are in my tanks.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

i googled an image of a planaria and it doesn't look like one. This one looks like a potato bug with legs.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

I was referring to the other two leach looking things on the right side of the first pic.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

it almost looks like a dragonfly nymph or something like that. I'd fish them out and destroy them asap, as most of these bugs eat shrimp/shrimplets.
At least the dragonfly one does.

The other is planaria or flatworms...ugly looking things, I turkey baster them out whenever I see one


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## aaronc (Jul 24, 2008)

those are scuds or amphipods they are a species of crustaceans and are scavengers but they might have a chance at young and weak shrimps.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

aaronc said:


> those are scuds or amphipods they are a species of crustaceans and are scavengers but they might have a chance at young and weak shrimps.


interesting...how do i get rid of them? I have a hard time catching them.


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Doesn't look like a scud to me. You can easily google pictures of scuds to compare. Doesn't look like dragonfly nymph to me either, but could be something similar. Like scud or other unwelcome critters though, there's probably no easy way to remove them.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

try putting an algae wafer in the front of your tank and wait till you see this thing go for it (most bugs like algae wafers, my scuds do) then quickly net the wafer with the bug on it.

If its scuds....welcome to our nightmare  They are virtually impossible to eliminate once in your tank, you can try turkey bastering them out one at a time, but you will not eradicate them, they go down into the soil, breed there and hide from you.

Im watching mine right now trying to eat a piece of shrimp king food.....geez I hate those things.


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## Kaiser.800 (Feb 3, 2010)

*Water louse*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asellus_aquaticus


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Those are not scuds. I've had hundreds of them and they do not have legs sticking out like that thing does. To me it appears to be an insect of some kind and I would get rid of it as fast as I can. 

After looking at the link from Kaiser, it might be the water louse, possibly. Though it does not much match the picture given, there are many species, so it could be one of them. I'd still get rid of it.

The other two, to me, look as though they might be some type of leech. I cannot see any sign of the triangle shape of the planaria head, though they can stretch out and bunch into a ball when bothered. But leeches will behave that way as well, just no triangle head shape, or eye spots on the head.

Btw, they didn't come from nowhere. They most likely came with a plant, possibly as unhatched eggs or even larvae. But they don't just appear, they are always introduced and usually by us, unknowing at the time. I once had dragonfly larvae come with a plant. Because of their eyes, I thought at first, glimpsing them through the water, that they were fry. But instead, they were eating fry, and baby shrimp too.


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## Shrimp Daddy (Mar 30, 2013)

manhtu said:


> I found a few of these guys swimming in my shrimp tank. They just appeared out of nowhere. Can anyone identify these guys? Are they harmful to shrimps?


You are overfeeding that's why.


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## Kaiser.800 (Feb 3, 2010)

*water louse (lice?) mating*






How many of them do you have in your tank-I would gladly take them.


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

Shrimp Daddy said:


> You are overfeeding that's why.


I'm actually not putting any food in that tank...except i throw in some dead shrimps in there once in awhile.



Kaiser.800 said:


> How many of them do you have in your tank-I would gladly take them.


I only managed to catch one...so far


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I had a look to see what water lice eat.. seems they are detritovores, eating dead plants and such, and possibly live plants as well, so in that regard they are somewhat like scuds. They're also part of the crustacea family, so they'd undoubtedly make good live fish food for any fish large enough to take them.


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