HELP! There's a bristleworm in my clam!

[coolie]

This bristleworm has been on the edge of my clam for 3 days now. The clam does not seem too stressed, but today it seems to be gaping just a little.
What can I do to get rid of this? Will a fw dip kill the bristleworm? If so, how and how long should I dip it? The clam is about 7 inches long. I have had this clam for a long time and I don't want to lose it.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/67442100_277422.JPG

 

[mbbuna]

bristleworms usually wont bother a healthy clam, so somthing else might be going on with this clam. anyway cant u just pick the worm off,or get a net and pick the clam up and scoop the sand out from where the clam was and the worm should be in there also(take a big scoop)

 

[coolie]

bump

 

[kfisc]

bristleworms really are harmless unless there's already something wrong-

 

[coolie]

The clam really looks fine otherwise. The bristleworm is not going further into the clam than it is in the picture. Its mantle looked a little pinched earlier today, but by the afternoon it was fully extended. If I do a fw dip, will it kill the bristleworm???

 

[szesteve]

If it's fine, leave it...

 

[jenhao]

Becareful...some bristleworms will kill clams. Check out Ron Shimek's article on bristleworms, especially Oenone fulgida. I lost a small clam to one recently. The telltale remains were exactly as described in Ron's article!

 

[Snprhed]

Tanks are full of bristleworms. They will leave a clam alone as long as it is healthy. The one to worry about is the fireworm (generically) and they aren't that common. If a bristleworm is in the clam he was already a goner.

 

[greenbean36191]

The one to worry about is the fireworm (generically) and they aren't that common.

Fireworm is the common name for any worm in the family Amphinomidae, which is the polychaetes with calcium bristles. It has nothing to do with them being dangerous or not. The harmful worm is the bearded fireworm, Hermodice carunculata.

Becareful...some bristleworms will kill clams. Check out Ron Shimek's article on bristleworms, especially Oenone fulgida.

No worries, that worm is definitely not Oenone.

Like other people have said, if the worm is in the clam there is already something wrong whether you can see it or not. The worms find their food by smell and can tell when something is unhealthy long before you can see it. They do not attack healthy animals; they don't even percieve them as food.