How to catch a Bobbit Worm?

nivram

nivram

New member
After browsing a reef blog I finally was able to figure out what this crazy looking worm was I saw one night in my tank. Its a bobbit worm, scariest looking thing i've seen. I was feeding my acans and saw it snatch a piece of shrimp from it.

Anyone have experience catching them? Removing rock is not an option at this point.
 
Any pics?

If it really is a bobbit worm, I'll buy it from you if you're willing to ship it.

I would guess the best bet would be to bait it into a jar at night. Put a piece of shrimp or something in a tall jar in your tank next to where it hides. You could use a red light to observe the bobbit worm without disturbing it. Wait until it goes into the jar and then cap the jar when it goes in.
 
I believe that if it is truly a bobbit worm it would be hesitant about completely leaving its "hole"?
 
Yup, it never left the hole completely. I've only seen it twice and never had a camera handy. First time saw it and thought my what a thick and quick bristle worm as it snatched a piece of shrimp from a acan. The 2nd time I pulled some dead frag plugs that were moved to cover its hole. That's when I saw the head and thought I had the worm from Tremors in my tank. It freaked me out. I was amazed to see this worm try to grab a frag plug with its head and pull it back.

Unfortunately it looks like I might have to pull the rock out. Not looking forward to this. :(
 
If it has a burrow it's a scavenger and nothing to be concerned about. That it lives in a rock and grabs dead shrimp bits suggests that it is such. Ours is about 1/4 inch in diameter and happens to be my girlfriends favorite tank resident. We have seen a few juveniles poke their heads out so hopefully I will have some for sale eventually. My species is an attractive green and definitely a Eunicid with the 5 anterior tentacles and the really neat eversible pharynx.

Here is the article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php
 
AJSTITAN14 said:
If it has a burrow it's a scavenger and nothing to be concerned about. That it lives in a rock and grabs dead shrimp bits suggests that it is such. Ours is about 1/4 inch in diameter and happens to be my girlfriends favorite tank resident. We have seen a few juveniles poke their heads out so hopefully I will have some for sale eventually. My species is an attractive green and definitely a Eunicid with the 5 anterior tentacles and the really neat eversible pharynx.

Here is the article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php
Click to expand...

This one was black and white stripped. Do you have any pics of yours? I think mine has made a new burrow as the old one seems closed up or collapsed.
 
Finally got images of this sucker.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZDgvLDGA41o&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZDgvLDGA41o&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
 
I could never get mine to leave the rock completely, tried a "bristleworm" trap and he just grabbed it and moved it over to his burrow, tank was too small to move it out of his reach. This rock had some soft corals on it but nothing too important so I took it out and shot freshwater through his burrows until he came out. Killed him in the removal unfortunately, very cool worm, scary looking jaws.
 
I was finally able to get the worm out! Took removing the entire rock out.

None.jpg
 
It became fertilizer. When removing it, it separated into two. I had it in a container outside and it eventually died after a day or two.

I must have come in in my live Rock. It was big enough that it would grab my snails and other small inverts. I'm sure many people have them in their tanks but don't know because they aren't big enough to realize it. Mine would also "steal" small frags.
 
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