creature found during cleaning

[amandarollman]

I found this little guy while cleaning out my freshwater tank this morning. Have no idea where it came from or what it is. I found it nested under some java moss on a coconut shell i got from petsmart about 3 years ago. I havent gotten any new fish or plants in over a year. I did take home some of a plant that looked like hornwart from a local creek near our house over a year ago and the plants have since died and been removed but im guessing thats were he came from. Anyone seen anything like this before? I only have angels and rams and a little bit of moss (where i found him) in the tank.

I have attached the pictures i took, but i had to resize them to be able to upload them so i hope they are not too small.

[mewickham]

It's a dragonfly larva and it probably did arrive as egg or baby on the hornwort. They are predatory, capable of catching small fish nearly as large as themselves. So it's best to remove it from the tank.

[amandarollman]

In my google searching today, the dragonfly larva is the closest thing i could find to it. Mine had a different tale but everything else was the same. It had to have come from the creek plants, dragonflies are thick in Oklahoma creeks in the summer. I just cant believe its been living in there that long! YUCK! I accidentally killed it while trying to get it into jar but i wouldn't have put it back in my tank anyways.

Are you familiar enough with them to know if there is a chance that there might be more or if it laid eggs or anything? Is there a bottom feeder or some sort of natural predator i might could add to my tank to clean up any more that might be in there. I don't see anymore but i also didn't see him! My fish are all ok but my tiny snails have dwindled down to almost nothing which is ok i had WAY too many. I just don't want to find another one, creeped me out big time!

[mewickham]

Well, it's possible that there are more. Dragonfly larvae are very common on aquatic plants. And if eggs were laid on the plants, there may be more than one that hatched out. But after a year, I'm surprised that one survived, let alone more. So I'd just keep an eye out. The one you found definitely has no laid its own eggs. It would have to first hatch out as a dragonfly, fly around and find a mate, and then lay eggs on plants near the water's surface.

You might want to check out this video of a dragonfly larva (different species) feeding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slakx9CSjoA

[amandarollman]

That is so gross Thank you for the info!