Since March 29, 2009 I have been scouring the internet and college biological heads in search of an ID. While shooting tide pools at at the Mana Kai Maui Resort the Keawakapu Beach, Maui, with my 180 Macro (1/500 sec @ f/8.0,ISO 400) I moved a rock and disturbed this critter. It is about 4-5 inches long, and moved surprisingly quickly with a peristaltic bulge that would move the length of the grey portion of the animal from the end with the white-sh appendage(s). You can see the bulge forming in the first frame (043) near the white appendage(s) It moved with a flopping action that did not seem to be directional but it disappeared fast. These three images were captured three seconds apart and was gone. Any ideas?
Juvenile Sea Cucumber of some kind?
Looks to be possibly a variety of Spoon Worm, Bonellia Sp. Similar to what we find on occasion here in the Caribbean in the same type habitat, although the ones we find are generally green in color.
Would think worm is right. Bonellia or another species.
Humann and DeLoach (Tropical Pacific, Reef Creature Identification) call the Bonellia a Tongue Worm.
For the Tropical Atlantic, they make no mention of a Tongue Worm or a Bonellia, but they do show other similar stuff.
A worm - and the images you provided are very similar. Pardon my lengthy absence I fell into a Black Hole and with the gravitational forces there I had to become faster than lightspeed to escape. That took some time.
