free swimming bristle worms?

[bpatrick]

So last night i was trying to capture what I think are small isopods in my tank. Following a article i found online i soaked some food in tank water and strained it to remove the actual food but to leave the smell. Supposedly, this 'smelly water' would draw out the isopods which could then be caught with a net or turkey baster depending on size. I had already caught about 6 small 'isopods' i just happened to spot using a turkey baster. Anyway to the point, I did not see any isopods but rather some small (1/8-1/4 inch) free swimming worms. They swam rather quickly (10+ body lengths a second maybe). Anyway, removing these using the turkey baster (got about 12) I could see they were centipede like with about 7-10 legs on each side of their bodies and swan by undulating themselves. Is this some type of free swimming bristle worm?

 

[rssjsb]

It's a developmental stage that bristle worms go through. It's called an epitoke.

 

[NYC/NJREEFS]

Free Floating Worms

Free Floating Worms

Are these bad?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

No, not bad at all. Just a part of the reproductive cycle of bristleworms.

 

[LeslieH]

If there's really only 7-10 legs per side they're not polychaetes but that's too many pairs of legs for crustaceans. If you ever get them again why not snap a pic & post it?

 

[jollyballs]

bump