Please help me identify this thing on my octospawn!

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dward0487

Alright, so I've been trying to figure out what's growing on my octospawn, and I just can't seem to ID this thing... It is a semi-circular growth that seems to be "soft" compared to the hard skeleton of the branching octospawn. You can actually see it swell and contract over time. It basically gains height (resembling a short cylinder) and then flattens out. It also has little fine "hairs" around its edges, similar to the little strands that I see on the bodies of my trochus snails. Here are a few pictures:

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I took this one with the flash on so you could see the difference in color between it and the branch of the octospawn.

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This is the best shot I could get of the little "hairs" contrasting against the back wall of my tank.

Here's a rough drawing I made to show how it swells up and contracts:
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If any of you know what this thing is, please tell me! My octospawn hasn't been extending very much lately, and I'm worried it might be some sort of pest/parasite that may be causing it. Thanks!
 
Upon closer inspection, the surface of this thing is hard, but the sides must be soft. I touched it with my coral feeder tube and it immediately went flat against the branch.

Here's a slightly better shot I took, trying to show it in its "raised" state, with the hairs visible:

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I tried to outline the general shape in red. It seems almost "hinged," in that the left side raises up, while the right side stays fairly flat. In a way, it resembles a clam or scallop.

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I took a picture from a different angle, and there seems to be a little "spine" on the inside of the thin shell. It's a central line with little "ribs" on both edges. Here's the pic:

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What the heck is this thing!?
 
My gagging reflex works -- OMGosh ... someone???

I'm going to take an uneducated guess and say a baby abalone ... some how got wedged or stuck and that is where its grown from birth???
 
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