Pics of My Peanut Worm

[BeakerBob]

Here's a couple of pics of my peanut worm. This guy has captured my attention for several months now. He lives in a rock that faces the front of my fuge and comes out to eat when I feed the tank. It's amazing how far he can stretch out from that small hole. Apparently, this worm appendage is introverted...it's like a glove finger that is folded inside of itself. As it stretches out of its hole, it extrudes outward (extroverts) and at the end are the feeding tentacles. It grabs the food in the tentacles and inverts back onto itself while withdrawing back into its hole.

Here he is in his hole (inverted mode):

He's coming out now, extruding his body:

Feeders are extended:

He is waving around trying to get food into his tentacles:

Still trying to more food into the tentacles before retracting:

His feeding tentacles are now retracting as he pulls back towards his hole:

 

[skippy2]

Those are some really great pics. Thanks for posting them.

 

[graveyardworm]

Awesome pics, I've noticed peanut worms in my tank but never saw the feeding tentacles. Recently I started feeding DT's oyster eggs, this stuff brings the peanuts, bristles, brittle star, and nassarius running for dinner as soon as it touches the water. I've never seen the peanuts come out when the lights are on.

 

[Spiffyguy]

Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Need to get me one of these worms.

 

[graveyardworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7356979#post7356979 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spiffyguy
Need to get me one of these worms.

If you have LR chances are you already have them. Generally they only come out at night, atleast from what I've noticed.

 

[romunov]

Cool. What camera are you using and, how far away from the glass is the animal?

 

[BeakerBob]

I use a Nikon D70/90mm macro lens on a tripod. These pics required the use of an off camera flash to fill in some darker areas. The rock is about 2" away from the front of the glass.

 

[WarEagle79]

Nice Pics!