Can you ID this worm?

[arc eye]

Any idea if this worm is good or bad. It is about six inches long, thin, brown, has very small legs, and a face that only a mother could love.

Sorry the picture isn't great.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc222/dandubya/CIMG0817.jpg

 

[LeslieH]

Does the head have 4 small antennae at the very end? And are there several pairs of filaments coming off the "neck"? Then it's a phyllodocid polychaete and I'll be jealous since they're among my favorites. You'll find pictures of some species at http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/index.html

Feeding methods among phyllodocids include predation on other worms, detritus-eating, and scavenging. It depends on the species.

 

[arc eye]

yes on the four antennae, but I can't quite tell on the neck. either way I am thinking that it is too slender and has too small of a head to pose a real problem. It definitely doesn't have bristles.

what is the verdict? a definite keeper?

 

[LeslieH]

All polychaetes have bristles - that's what the name means in Latin: many bristles. In most of them the bristles are just too small to see without a magnifying glass. The amphinomids have really big conspicuous ones so reefers call these bristle worms.

You can consider this reef safe if what you worry about are fish and corals. It might get longer but it won't get wider so the prey items will remain small things that you probably don't even notice in your tank.

 

[arc eye]

Thank you for your timely response, I apologize for the hasty description, I had a skimmer overflow and and work to tend to.

I also just found a very small crab that I am kind of worried about. I am beginning to think that maybe I should have rinsed my live rock with seltzer water before throwing it in there.................