I Got The Head! I Got The Head!

6

64Ivy

B'rer Reefer
Team RC
Okay, those of you that are familiar with my website may remember that one of the tankmates I've been trying to identify was my so called Mystery Worm. Up until now, this was the only image I had of him.

Mystery-Worm.jpg



This creature has been in my tank for at least 3 years. During that period, I have only seen it three times, all but once when I had a camera nearby. It has black 'velvity' skin, about the circumference of a pencil and seems to prefer darkness. Although I've seen it, I've never got a decent image of it's head...until today. While rearranging some rockwork, I obviously disturbed it and sent it packing. I ran for my camera, fumbled around for a couple more minutes and consider myself lucky as hell to get these two shots of it's head.

Mystery-Worm-2.jpg


Mystery-Worm-3.jpg


A couple other things: It's body is not round, it actually leans more toward flat. Also, it's tail is almost paddle shaped (I missed that, of course). And finally, it's about a foot and a half long!!!

If you have any ideas about what this 'worm' could be, please let me know so I could include it in my site update. Thank You.
 
WOW!! That's a wild looking worm. Keep us posted when you get a good ID... Maybe Dr. Ron can help.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
Can it move fairly rapidly? Say, a centimeter or so per second? I saw a light pastel colored worm in my tank a couple of times with what looks like similar bodily dimensions. The one I saw in my tank was probably between 2 1/2 and 4 inches. I don't have a id handy, but, there were several which could have been my worm. I'll see if I can find it. :)

BTW, the one I saw in my tank, looked like a snake slipping through vines. Also, there may be more than one in your tank, just a thought. :D
 
64Ivy,

That is the biggest flat worm I have ever seen:D . You are very lucky to get a couple of pictures like that. Since you are so lucky, did you buy a lottery ticket?

North Bay
 
zenya, that's the family I was thinking of (no, I didn't find the books). :D

BTW, the link doesn't work here. :(
 
Zenya :

Link isn't working for me.

K.Lee :

Mine moves pretty slowly. I hope it's a loner because of it's size. As I've said, it's been around for a few years now. I would guess by the shape of it's mouth, it's a detritus eater.
 
Ok found the book. Digging.

FWIW, Nemertea is a pretty big Phylum.

I found a worm, with almost identical markings to yours 64Ivy on in "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium, V. 3 First Edition", Fossa and Nilsen, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag: 2000, pp. 92. The animal pictured there is Notospermus tricuspidata, and was photographed according to the text off Papua-New Guinea.

The difference in the reference is that the worm is much "fatter", like a contracted leach, but I imagine that worm may have been disturbed since it is in a "U" shape and on a flat rock.

The actual Family is Lineidae for Notospermus spp. which is what I think your worm is. :D

Also for identity, the "W" marking on the head of N. tricuspidatus is used according to the text referenced above. The common name for the animals in the Phylum Nemertea is Ribbon Worms.
 
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I had something looking exactly like this in my nano! For a minute I was thinking I had some sort of hard to kill eel. I cant wait for a positive ID, 64ivy! You are a great photographer BTW, and I enjoy your website.
 
I think I fixed the misspelling:D ,try it once more.
FWIW,if it is one of them,they're predatory worms mostly and prey on other worms and some crustations,I don't think they preay on corals.;)
 
According to "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium, V. 3 First Edition", Fossa and Nilsen, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag: 2000, pp. 88-89, almost all worms of the Phylum Nemertea, aka Ribbon Worms aka Proboscis worms is that they can use their mouth parts for defense as well as consumption. So they can bite IOW. Also, :( they are almost all carnivorous, but not necessarily a killer/predator.
 
K. Lee said:
According to "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium, V. 3 First Edition", Fossa and Nilsen, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag: 2000, pp. 88-89, almost all worms of the Phylum Nemertea, aka Ribbon Worms aka Proboscis worms is that they can use their mouth parts for defense as well as consumption. So they can bite IOW. Also, :( they are almost all carnivorous, but not necessarily a killer/predator.
Click to expand...

Yep,that's what I was trying to say:D
in my clumzy way.
 
As long as they can't bite through an inch and a half of acrylic, I guess I can deal with it. As for the predatory aspect however, I HAVE had a few 'disappearances' over the years.....Hmmmm.
 
...So for those who are interested, the worm appears to be Notospermus tricuspidatus (A Ribbon Worm) which, according to TMCRA v.3 pp 91, "..occurs along East Africa and the Ryukyu Islands, and on to Guam and the Great Barrier Reef". It also lists it's color as predominantly dark green which may be the case with this specimen as it's skin DOES tend to iridesce that color. I'd like to thank zenya and K. Lee for doing my research for me and pointing me in the right direction. I'm embarrassed to say that I own TMCRA vols 1-4 and never made that discovery though I do look through them rather frequently. So thanks again, guys. It appears the mystery is finally solved.
 
Glad you can finally rest easy:p
Try rearanging your rocks wearing gloves,you never know where this big fella is;)
 
Your welcome! Sometimes we just need a push into the right situation to get what we need even when it is apparently right in front of our eyes. At least, I believe that. ;)
 
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