Cool worm on coral

[SKremk]

I've had this Stereonephthya for several weeks, but I just now noticed this worm. At first I thought it was a small brittle star, but it's actually a long thin worm. I'd guess it's 6" - 8" long, and about as thick as angel-hair pasta. It doesn't seem to be doing anything bad to the coral. Anyone seen anything similar?


Here it is:

A close up:

 

[Airwolf75]

Cool shot, he's probably just sucking juice out of the coral.

 

[tatuvaaj]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

 

[iamwhatiam52]

WOW!!
The worm is more interesting than the coral. I'd love to have one even if it does feed on the host. Let's hope the both live together happily ever after.

Is Leslie around to tell us what is known about this skinny beast?

 

[SKremk]

Thanks guys, yeah, it's a pretty cool little worm to watch. It's constantly crawling around, so it seems like it's more of a scavenger than actually feeding on the coral. If you look at the second photo, you can see some cyclops the coral caught during feeding time, so I'm wondering if the worm just goes after loose scraps of food. Either way, it's pretty neat, and I'd love to get an ID on it.

 

[Elysia]

Here is an ID thread that seems to have the same worm as you do. I don't know if anyone ever IDed the animal or what happened to it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1650223

You may want to PM Leslie in an attempt to get an answer. So many times, the posts on here request the same IDs over and over -- she may be on vacation or simply have missed this more unusual one.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15420698#post15420698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Elysia
Here is an ID thread that seems to have the same worm as you do. I don't know if anyone ever IDed the animal or what happened to it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1650223

Actually, the worm in the id thread mentioned is a type of large bristol/fire worm. The one on the Stereonephthya is neither a fire worm or bristol worm. It is too small, too long, and it has different colors.

It is a type of Nemertea worm or ribbon worm. As for an EXACT id, it may be very difficult to determine because there are so many possibilities.

 

[SKremk]

Bongo, I did some research, and I'm not sure it's a Nemertea. They are unsegmented, and it looks like this worm is segmented.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I know it looks segmented, but because it is so long, it leads me to believe that it is just coloration. Possibly even to make it look segmented when it is actually not.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

An annelid mimic?