Giant polyclad flatworm ate my peppermint shrimp!!!

Guygettnby

Guygettnby

Well-known member
ok so i see my peppermint shrimp try to get some food from the top of the tank then fall down to the sand and i look away for a second as the shrimp landed on the sand next to 1 of my rocks and when i look back the shrimp is engulfed by the flat worm!! i didnt know what it was at first but after looking close i knew right away. so i guess i have yet another one of these damn things that i need to get out.

picture of the worm eating my shrimp.
Picture234.jpg


pictures of the shrimp after i managed to get it free. wich was only like 1 minute tops after noticing it happen and snapping a picture for proof. i tried to clean it off the best i could but it was already dead. you can still see some of the residue left behind from the worm.

Picture236.jpg


Picture235.jpg



so the fact now remains that these worms will eat crabs, snails and shrimp so far. now this makes me wonder if it could eat a fish. the shrimp was pretty quick prey for it to catch and kill in seconds!! whats to make me think my fish are even safe now.
 
Wow, sorry about the shrimp, but that's a pretty cool shot. How many other polyclads have you had to deal with?
 
this is the second have had to deal with so far. the first was huge and actually was very easy to get out beacuse he would always rawl around in the open.

this one though seems to like living in the rocks so far and i am having some problems getting it out.
 
i never would have believed it if i didnt see it first hand. i have no clue were they came from as i have had this tank for awhile now and never saw 1 of these.
 
I'd like to see them too. They are pretty good at paralyzing molluscs, but the nervous systems of crustaceans are different enough that you'd think it would take different chemicals to paralyze them. Maybe the guys working on reef animal toxins should take a look at the flatworms.
 
hmm, i didnt relize the pictures were not in my photo bucket account any more. i will see if they are still on my computer or external HD.

didnt think this was gonna get pulled back up :lol: but it is something i would have never though possible unless i saw it first hand. it is also something i was lucky to get pictures of. i will try to find the pictures tonight when i get off of work.
 
sorry everybody.. i guess i deleted the pictures. i dont have them on my computer or my portable HD. wish i did so everybody cold see them, they were some really decent shots.
 
subscribed to see some pics :)

posts like this confirm for me that the worms I have are not the usual polyclad either. I have had them for years, caught more of them than I can count and i dont keep any clams or snails anymore. Yet i still find the worms. So what are they eating?? I wouldnt put it past them that they eat any leftover food if there is nothing else around to munch on. There theoretically isnt anything else left in my tank for them to survive on. lol
 
I think critters like this are amazing. I think they can just about survive through anything. I had some terrible Oenone worms that I did not feed for about 3-4 months and they finally ate each other. They can live through just about anything.
 
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