critter identification 18" long!!!

ckoral

ckoral

Premium Member
I have had a tank setup for about a year and a half now. I have figi live rock and marshal island live rock primarily. A large piece of Marshal rock I have had a critter I have seen for the past 4 months in it. Usually see him around 2.5 hrs after lights are out. I thought he was huge at about 4 inches long. I made some changes to my overflow which makes it easier for fish to slide down to the sump without much damage done to them. I was fishing some chromis out of my sump and noticed this worm like critter in the sump. I now have him trapped and in my quarantine tank. I would say he is 18" long stretched and a little over a half inch wide at the mouth area.

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Do you think it is worth me looking for a new owner or shall I dispose of it?

Something ate all my ricordia, xenia, zoanthids, leathers. Is it this eunicid?
 
DON"T DISPOSE OF IT! I would like to have it if its ok with you.

They are amazing animals and well worth the effort to set up a species tank for!
 
I am pretty sure I am not going to keep him. I was going to see if some of the locals wanted it.

I am very happy to learn that people are interested in keeping it if I decide I do not want it. I hate the idea of killing something that came all the way from Fiji and died from unnatural causes.

My biggest thing is I would like to learn more about him. Most immediately what does he eat? Is he a good climber? I have a 10 gal quarantine with the water level down about 1.5" I can house him in this system for now but I must keep him fed. Mysis? Daphnia? For now I will leave him a couple xenia frags to much down.
 
so I have him in my 10Gallon Quarantine tank now. The water line is about 1.5" from the top. I got a couple frags of xenia and some live rock rubble a small ball of cheato. I am running a canister filter and home depot style lighting. My only concern is that he can climb out through the input/output line or the auto top off float. If he does, he dries up. Not sure the length on those standard 10Gallon tanks but he is stretched the full distance of the front.

I think I am going to feed him some mysis tomorrow. Lets see if that xenia is still in there tomorrow. He just may eat that. I also have a good number of pod's in my quarantine tank.
 
Venwu's right. I would just preserve him for study while he will treat it like a long-lost child. :)

Big eunicids are switch hitters when it comes to food. Their main feeding mode is carnivory - I'm sure he's the reason why your soft corals are gone. That may not be the normal food for this species in the wild but in the controlled environs of a tank he's not exactly getting his normal selection. They will eat detritus, ingest sand & algae to digest off the organics, scavenge, etc. in the absence of other food. They can climb although I don't know if they would leave the water. One thing I know is that it doesn't like being out in the open. Eunicids live in burrows or under rocks.
 
thanks leslie.

So whats the verdict ckoral? I am of course willing to pay shipping.

If you need info on how to ship this particular animal, I am eager to comply.
 
Sorry to be a "tease". I have him in my hospital tank and I am feeding him a combination of frozen food and xenia. He polished off two frags of xenia last night so I know he is healthy and eating well. I need time to learn about him. I want to know and observe it. I am NOT keeping it so I will contact you shortly. I will not kill it (if you know any special care please let me know).

Like Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day.... "I got that S.O.B. now I want to observe him in my own little environment." If you feel he is in danger of dying let me know. I will keep him eating and do many water changes on my small 10 gal.

It is common practice for me to dump a little of my main tank into the quarantine tank when I have livestock in it.

Again, in no way will I be keeping him. My system is very automated and I do not have time to care for him in an isolated environment. Nor am I going to keep feeding his favorite xenia (although I have about a year supply of the crap).

I just want to learn/observe as much as I can about him in a short time. If you know specific good articles so I don't need to sift through all the junk, link me...

Thanks for your interest.
 
If you are going to keep him and watch him, you should write your own behavior articles, and post them here. It may help the next person who decides to keep one :)


Don
 
There is a unique article on the ecological importance of euncids, they can use their sticky mucous to cement together pieces of live rock on the sandy ocean floor, in effect they create a a pile of small rocks that permit the settlement of coral planae(sp). Then the young corals grow in biomass and increase the amount of settling particulate around the rock pile, thus increasing the amount of available algae and biodiversity. Eventually these animal (certain species only) can generate their own oasis on the baron sea floor. Quite beautiful.
 
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