Weird worm

[dweiner]

Omg! Please help!
I just ordered elodea, which I was so excited about from a company in Florida. I called the man yesterday, because I didn't know what to do with it, and he suggested putting it in a quarantine tank BEFORE i put it in the main tank. Which was a GREAT idea but this morning I saw these weird worms and Im having a heart attack! What is this?

I am a teacher, and I have a tank with feeder guppies and ghost shrimp and I am creating ecosystems with my students, so I need these fish, shrimp and snails to live. PLUS, if the kids will be using this elodea....now Im freaking out that it may be harmful to their ecosystems, please help! I already saw a tiny one in the main tank!
Please HELP!!! I have a video, But i don't know how to post it!

 

[louis_last]

That's some kind of leech. Although there is a chance they could prey on shrimp or snails I think probably they will be in interesting addition to your kids ecosystems with a lot of scope for additional learning. The fact that some leeches suck blood might be engaging for them and you could teach about the historical and even current medical uses of leeches. Demi Moore uses them on her face and back in the day people used to use them to predict the weather.

 

[xZaiox]

They kind of look like snail leeches? Glossiphonia? I'm terrible at ID's so ignore me if wrong lol.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS.

That's some kind of leech.

Definitely is. They are really difficult to control ,if you don't like them, but fairly harmless. I have them in <"all the aquariums"> and <"just control them by hand picking">.

They kind of look like snail leeches? Glossiphonia?

Definitely could be, but I think it might be Helobdella europaea, they are <"viviparous hermaphrodites">, so if you give it a squeeze lots of perfect miniature baby leeches should pop out (the little ones in your photo?). You need to count its eyes for a definitive ID (just two eyes in Helobdella).

cheers Darrel

 

[xZaiox]

Definitely could be, but I think it might be Helobdella europaea,

Yes, you are completely right, that image I uploaded above is apparently mismatched, and can actually be found under the name you just gave "Helobdella" - Helobdella - Wikipedia
Interesting to read "These are small, flat leeches which do not feed on blood." - I always thought all/most leeches do. The more you know!

they are viviparous hermaphrodites, so if you give it a squeeze lots of perfect miniature baby leeches should pop out.

Gross

 

[Miniandy]

These look very similar to what I find in my pond filter, they coat all the surfaces. We're talking probably a few 10's of thousands. Do they cause any issues for fish?

 

[Simon Cole]

harmful to their ecosystems

Looks like they are an intrinsic part of the ecosystem. If your students are old enough for a good laugh around a slightly rude subject, <here> is a hilarious anecdote by a researcher from your side of the pond. His entire <biography> makes a fascinating read. It's possible that they could try to latch on temporarily to one of the fish, but it's more likely that the fish will eat them beforehand, so you have nothing to worry about.