2-3 ft worm i just found in rock

L

long2534

New member
I saw a worm in my zoa rock and it was bugging me alot so i got the ol screwdriver and hammer and fragged the whole rock and got the worm out. He is such a beast, id say around the 3 ft mark easy. Hes pink and red, i figure its some kind of polychaet worm but it has far less bristles than one ive ever seen. im charging my camera to get some better pics.


http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=worm1qe2.jpg

yea we threw those tooth brushes out and sanitized the whole bathroom, i dunno what i was thinking taking it in there. oh yea i was thinking the freaking worm wouldnt be longer than my arm

WHAT is this thing? A regular random bristleworm, bobbit worm? what??

thanks for any info in advance
 
No way to tell from that picture, sorry. If you put it in a dish with enough seawater to completely cover it you should get a decent picture that would be usable for id.
 
It would be interesting to see in some water up close. I doubt the bathroom needed sanitized and the toothbrushes were fine, but I'd probably done the same after realizing I had that thing in my bathroom.
 
I agree about the sanitizing, probably unnecessary but if it makes you feel better then go for it. I second LeslieH on the close-up picture. The picture given will not help since it does not give any detail to the worm. All we can tell is it is long, skinny, and red. Close up picture of it overall, the head, and the segments would provide more information to allow an accurate ID.
 
worm3jd2.jpg


will have a few more soon but i cant get any really close detailed pictures with the camera i have. this worm has none of the typical bristleworm bristles that i can see. it just has red leg like appendages on each side like a centipede or something. it has at least 5 small straight tenticles on its head and at least 2 little black specs that looks like eyes.


worm8tk9.jpg


oh also one reason i sanatized bathroom was bc another different smaller worm had popped/exploded. was trying to get it out of a hole with tweezers and it just exploded sending light pinkish goo right onto my chest. was pretty funny but my gf didnt think so.:lol:

worm4ur1.jpg
 
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Yeah, I would have probably had to sanitize after having one pop and sending stuff all over the place. I don't know the worm yet, but will keep looking around for something like that.
 
thank you for the info leslie it helps alot. ive noticed a large decline in zoas on that rock also most of my snails are gone and my tang looks like he has some funky bite mark on his side but it couldve been several things. Im kinda thinking of setting up a smaller tank for the worm and seeing if he makes it lol.

reading through the links you gave me im almost sure its Oenone fulgida.
 
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With 5 tentacles on the head? The one you caught can't possibly be Oenone fulgida because that has 3 tiny ones that are usually hidden by a fold of skin. It can only be an eunicid or an onuphid. Onuphids aren't rock dwellers while eunicids are extremely common rock dwellers that come in with live rock. Of course, you could always have an Oenone as well!
 
what should be done with this thing? are they beneficial or what lol. its still alive . . in the closet. i hate to kill it bc its such a beast and i dont think i can get another tank set up. preserve it in a jar somehow? just a thought i dunno. seems a waste to dispose of such a beast as this.


also in addition to the roughly 5 small tentacles at its head the tip of its mouth has two lobes kind of like the lower backside of a human :lol: or the face of a seal. really odd, thats why i thought it was oenone fulgida. on the link you sent me with the pics it most resembles http://www.nhm.org/guana/bvi-invt/bvi-surv/images/worm-04/h0792a.htm but has slightly less pronounced tentacles on the head and its the same color as an earth worm with blood red appendages instead of white. aside from that basically the same worm.
 
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