Is this a Bristle Worm? Keep it or destroy it?

[spydergst98]

Found him in my Refuguim. Should I keep it or destroy it?

Only things in my refuguim are some snails, crabs and Macro Algae.

Thanks,

 

[Vitaly]

I definetly think that is a bristle worm. Here is a close-up shot of one I found in my tank.

I say move him into your display tank. They burrow through the sand, facilitating in aeration and also remove detritus and leftover food. Plus they are sometimes eaten by livestock, so they end up being a food source themselves.

Word of caution...handle them with care. The bristles will detach and insert (painfully) into your skin. I have handled the ones in my tank, but wore latex gloves. I have friends who were stuck by the bristles while cleaning their tank (sand, filter sponge, etc) and said it was quite painful.

Just my thoughts...good luck.

 

[LeslieH]

Mike - you've got a nearly complete eunicid but minus the head as far as I could tell from your image. Take a look at the eunicid head ends at http://www.nhm.org/guansa/bvi-invt/bvi-surv/worm-g04.htm & compare them to your animal to be sure. There's enough of the main body that the head might regenerate if it's missing. The big eunicids are predators. From my worm-loving point of view it would be interesting to keep it & see what it eats but you might not like seeing your other critters disappear.

Vitaly - Your worm is different. It's the mollusc-specialist Oenone fulgida. If you have/had snails or clams & they've been vanishing this guy is the culprit. I'm not sure what it eats when there's no molluscs in a tank.

Neither of these worms have the same kind of painful bristles that the fireworms have. I've handled them in the field without problems but it's wise to avoid the jaws which can take a small chunk out of your fingers.

 

[Vitaly]

<B>LeslieH</B>,

Thanks for the clarification...and a genus & species too go along with it. Wow! I do not have any clams, but do have a handful of snails in the tank. Hard to say if any disappeared. These worms were hitchhikers with some LR that I added to my system during the past month. I decided to leave them because I thought they would add to the biodiversity.

I will keep an eye on my snail population and see if they are disappearing. Outside of opportunitistically feeding on snails, do these worms pose any other problems in the average reef system?

Thanks...

 

[LeslieH]

I really don't know what other problems Oenone might cause. There's not much (any?) information on what it will eat when all the molluscs in a tank are gone. Keep an eye out for slime balls on or near other animals. They capture molluscs by covering them with slime. As I've mentioned before it's unknown if the slime smothers the prey, poisons them, or is just so foul it keeps other predators from horning in on the worm's dinner. If you find outwhat else they eat please let me know with a PM or email.

 

[Vitaly]

I did a little searching and found very little information online. I even went to Medline/PubMed...but found only one related article published in 1974...which is not available for online viewing.

I highly doubt that I will know/learn more bout these guys than you <wink>...however should I come across any literature or make my own observations...I will certainly relay the information to you.

Thanks for the tip about the mucus/slime balls. I will keep my eye out for it.

 

[Gangrene]

Oenone fulgida: remove right away, kills clams and snails...