Silver Metallic Like Balls

[Mbahsoun]

Hey everyone,

During a couple of dives off the coast of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Red Sea). We noticed a few silver shiny metallic like balls, a bit bigger than a ping pong ball. At first we all thought they were debris or rubbish fallen into the sea and so we proceeded to try to remove them. To our surprise they were not. They had almost a squishy feel about them and were clearly a living organism. We then noticed a lot more of them on our following dives.

I have since tried to search the internet for an answer on what these creatures are, but to no avail. Anyone has an idea?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Finn_Diver]

I suppose you mean this:

http://www.messersmith.name/wordpres...a_IMG_2879.jpg

It is Bubble Algae known as "Sailor's Eyeball" or "Sea Pearl" (Ventricaria ventricosa).

I also was amazed, when I saw them first time.

 

[tridacna]

Actually that is Valonia Ventricosa. (Genus is Ventricaria - Common name is Valonia). Completely harmless in the ocean. As a 30 veteran of keeping reef tanks, I am an expert in eradicating these pests. They do nothing but take up space for your corals and are aggressive growers with no known fishtank predators. People have tried many fishes and crabs in an attempt to get rid of them to no avail. I finally rigged up a vaccuum hose with a razor blade in front. This bursts the bubble and sucks them out of the tank. The problem is that the bursting action causes them to emit thousands of spores, most of which are sucked in by the tube. The escapees will keep me busy again in a few weeks.

 

[Mbahsoun]

Yes yes that is exactly what I saw! Thank you all!
)


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[Diver0001]

An interesting bit of trivia about these guys is that it's a single celled organism. One of the largest on the planet.

R..