Weird worm/leech released babys in fry tank help!!!

I have seen this thing in 2 of my tanks and i cannot identify it. it is definitely not planaria and seems to move like a leech. it has a brownish tint to it with brown spikes running along its back. i tried to remove it just before but i didn't realise it had tons of babys on its stomach. they are now all in my tank and i don't know if they are bad for my fry (it is a fry tank). i removed the mum but im not sure if i should worry please help! The larger end is the back of the animal and the skinny side seems to be the front.

That is a snail leech. They are well known for their parental care, like carrying their babies underneath them. They should eat snails and small inverts, so your fry should be safe. But best to remove them if possible to be on the safe side.

Bub said:

That is a snail leech. They are well known for their parental care, like carrying their babies underneath them. They should eat snails and small inverts, so your fry should be safe. But best to remove them if possible to be on the safe side.

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this is incredibly fascinating and gives me a little more appreciation for leeches (who give me heavier jeebies haha)

Wow, I always seem to learn something new in this hobby, even after many years of fishkeeping.

Have never seen these before and facinating to learn of these snail leech.

Seems upon quick research that perhaps Flubendazole may kill these off but will also kill all inverts and snails in the aquarium, unsure if this will also effect your fry.

And Flubendazole will be present in your tank for quite some time, a few months perhaps so you won't be able to add any snails or inverts for a while.

Perhaps think best method is to carefully remove these snail leech with tweezers or something similar and dispose of, will be time consuming and take quite a while before you get ALL of them from your tank.

All of the above that is based very loosly on very quick research so your best bet is to reseach this more fully.

Bub said:

That is a snail leech. They are well known for their parental care, like carrying their babies underneath them. They should eat snails and small inverts, so your fry should be safe. But best to remove them if possible to be on the safe side.

Click to expand...

@Bub you beat me to it.

@Killerbro511 Scrape those outta there pronto with a card or blade. Don't grab them you have to get the whole thing.
You already know how it goes if you try to grab them. I erased my images they creeped me out.