Hello!
A week ago I posted here and in shrimp tank pictures/video of an unidentified species of worm. At plain sight looked like a planaria based on color and gliding movement. Thanks to comments in the previous post for mentioning some things about the slow corkscrew movements of some. I had access to a microscope and could take these photos, although it was difficult to follow the movements of the worm, I could see that they do not present the flat appearance of planaria and look more segmented (?). They are attracted to light and not grow as much as planaria, they stay this tiny but still visible . They also spend most of the time in proximity to string algae, closer to the surface than the substrate. I have them contained in a jar where only other small organisms live which makes me believe that probably are not parasites and they won’t cause troubles to shrimp. Still an ID would help to know more about this species. Thanks for the interest in the previous post!
by Uzquer
2 Comments
It sure does look like a planarian but there are more flatworms out there than just those. In many cases it’s a rhabdocoela flatworm.
Here’s a pic of some planarian species:
https://preview.redd.it/91azeal4mw5f1.jpeg?width=501&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e12101b9cc49c5b1daac7c2e4086d62d3e32fb4d
Is there anyway you could get pictures of the head at a higher magnification? There are a few flatworms that it could be (i.e. macrostoma, stenostoma, etc.). I don’t think it is a planarian though.