[Leafy]

I just found this purple worm/caterpillar in my fish tank. Also, one of my ghost shrimp was attempting to eat it when I found it. I have no idea where it could have come from... Can someone help me identify it? Also, it's around an inch long...

 

[luky]

i saw some of those at a pet shop recently. they said they were hornworms. meant for feeding large lizards. the ones i saw were a blue / light blue / teal kind of color, but they were very similar to the one you posted.
could have hitched a ride from the petshop via some new driftwood or plants maybe (???)

 

[Leafy]

Thanks, although I sort of doubt that it hitched a ride recently. This is because I haven't put anything new into my fish tank for the last couple of months. (I haven't been to the pet store since January.)

But maybe it is one of those hornworms... however, I don't see any horns.

 

[AHGoodwin]

it is not a horn worm.
<--- reptile keeper

 

[Bettatail]

it doesn't look like an aquatic worm.

 

[Lonestarbandit]

Wait this thing lived for months with no air?
+1 doesn't look aquatic in nature....

 

[GreenAcres]

It looks like a grub of some kind. I tried an image search but I couldn't handle looking at grub photos long enough to figure it out.

 

[Leafy]

Well, here's another picture...

Oh yeah, it's not responding to my poking so it might be dead... Although it changed positions from last night so...

*Edit*

It's definitely alive because when I dunked it in the water, it started moving!

 

[Lonestarbandit]

Feed it some leaves and grass and see what you get ..... butterfly maybe?

Sent from my VS930 4G using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

 

[dbw27]

caterpillar

It could be an aquatic moth: http://www.west-fly-fishing.com/entomology/others/aquatic-moths.shtml

If it IS an aquatic lepidoptera, then out of the water it would most likely die yes?

dbw

 

[Entomologist210]

Not sure how it got there, but I'm going to guess it's a Noctuid larva. Probably Mythimna sp.

 

[Bettatail]

View attachment 353938

Well, here's another picture...

Oh yeah, it's not responding to my poking so it might be dead... Although it changed positions from last night so...

*Edit*

It's definitely alive because when I dunked it in the water, it started moving!

Put it in the water long enough, probably not going to move anymore…