Help, killer worm (Oenone Fulgdia) attacking my clam!

[heuerfan]

Tank has been setup for 2 years and within these past years i've must have caught 15 of these devils. Biggest i ever caught was 12 inches long and 1/4 inch thick (witness this guy kill my 2.5 inch fighting conch thats how i caught it). Its been 3 months since i've seen any trace of them so i thought to myself, maybe i am finally rid of them?

So i went out and bought a 4inch blue crocea, and for the past 2 days no problems until this morning. Woke up and saw a glob of mucus by the lower half of the clam. As i got closer to my horror i saw a small "Oenone Fulgida" retract back into the rocks. Blew off the mucus and to my relief no damage to the clam.

My plan of action is to leave the moonlights on and hope that would deter the worm/worms from coming out since they don't like any light. Or spend the next couple of nights staking out this worm/worms and pulling them out. Only way for me to remove them is manually with a pair of tweezers, cannot remove the rocks.

My question is this, do you think since the clam is 4inches and the worm i saw is very thin/small would the clam be able to continue to protect itself? I've believe i've read somewhere that healthy clams can create some type of coating around its shell to prevent these worms from drilling into them.

Here is some info on these devils,
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

 

[mbbuna]

i dont see any way for you to get rid of the worm without removing the rock it lives in. from what ive read these worms dont drill through the shell, they go right for the fleashy parts and can consume the clam very quickly. i would say that you got lucky the last time you saw the worm by the clam.
remove the rock or the clam

 

[heuerfan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6512624#post6512624 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbbuna
i dont see any way for you to get rid of the worm

I've removed more than 15 of them manually. I have tons of pics to prove also. When these guys are extended and busy feasting on their victims, you can sneak up behind them and grab them with a pair of tweezers (special shaped ones i got from my wife). Its not easy, i just had a lot of practice.

I hope your right about the drilling. This way i can monitor and see if i can catch it going after the flesh.

 

[heuerfan]

Here's what happend to my clam.............
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=753088