SeaSnake? Eel? Something else?
- Thread starter SM2444
- Start date
You guys are awesome for responding so quickly - nice to know there's family out there. I have been worried sick for all my other inhabitants including hard & soft corals, fish and crustaceans. Discovered through this forum that I have a nemertean, Notospermus tricuspidatus - hard to judge how long it is, but at a minimum, it's 30cm. He's been hanging around quite openly within the rocks since being discovered this morning. I haven't read much about them at this point but will get more info before I decide what I need to do next. I have an albeit poor quality photo of his head - forked on the front, quite flat like a ribbon, and a whitish square marking.
Thanks again folks!
Thanks again folks!
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viper12775
New member
yup you have a ribbon cool critter I would set a tank up for it myself lol
supra400hptt
Member
Wiki has some good info on this worm. Apparently one variety gets up to 177 feet long that someone found. Might need a bigger tank to keep it in, lol.
Yeah - I've seen him move. Unlike a seasnake, he's quite slowly - sways around 2 inches of his body through the current - the remainder is hidden in holes within the live rock. Have read that he may have come into the tank as larvae hidden in rock, and has grown from there. I now have around 8 dead snails all in the same place - only one type of snail. I do have 2x live Cowrie's - I'm worried for them as I did have one very early in the piece and he suddenly died and got totally eaten out of his shell. The rock where I suspect my ribbon worm lives is at the very bottom of my tank and to dismantle it is one helluva job. One I'll have to do though...
Keep it! Maybe put him in his own tank and try to offer him chunks of meat? He's really cool, and it would be a shame to kill something that awesome. Or, if you don't want to keep it, see if anyone on here wants it.
I bet you can lure him out. Put a snail just out of reach. Don't just grab and yank, though, he might break off. Wait for him to get out as far as you can and then try to scoop him out.
I bet you can lure him out. Put a snail just out of reach. Don't just grab and yank, though, he might break off. Wait for him to get out as far as you can and then try to scoop him out.
Whiterabbitrage
New member
Hope you don't kill it. It's so rare to see one. Give it to LFS or sell it. Someone would be happy to have it for sure.
Green Worm - Notospermus Tricuspidatus
Green Worm - Notospermus Tricuspidatus
Hi again... well, it's mid November and finally I've managed to capture this thing. And he's alive! He's definately a Notospermus Tricuspidatus - a voracious predator that managed to kill 3 cowrie's and 11 snails in a few short months. He'd been active at night, with occasional visits during daylight hours. I isolated the rock he lived in, submerged it in town water in the kitchen sink (facing downwards so that exposure to light was less) and after around 10 minutes, approx. 15cm of worm hung limp outside the rock. With gloves I then gently pulled the rest of him out - he measured 70cm. Not long after I popped him into a saltwater jar, approx. 20cm of his tail segmented off, which then segmented into approx. 12 little baby worms some 12 hours later. I regularly flushed his "prison jar" with new saltwater and each time I did so, he oozed a milky white fluid from his tail which smelled unbelievably vile - I imagine this might have been his defence mechanism - perhaps a toxin? He's now safely delivered to our local aquarist who heads our technical college's Marine Studies Centre. What an experience! Thank you to this online community - you've been wonderful
Green Worm - Notospermus Tricuspidatus
Hi again... well, it's mid November and finally I've managed to capture this thing. And he's alive! He's definately a Notospermus Tricuspidatus - a voracious predator that managed to kill 3 cowrie's and 11 snails in a few short months. He'd been active at night, with occasional visits during daylight hours. I isolated the rock he lived in, submerged it in town water in the kitchen sink (facing downwards so that exposure to light was less) and after around 10 minutes, approx. 15cm of worm hung limp outside the rock. With gloves I then gently pulled the rest of him out - he measured 70cm. Not long after I popped him into a saltwater jar, approx. 20cm of his tail segmented off, which then segmented into approx. 12 little baby worms some 12 hours later. I regularly flushed his "prison jar" with new saltwater and each time I did so, he oozed a milky white fluid from his tail which smelled unbelievably vile - I imagine this might have been his defence mechanism - perhaps a toxin? He's now safely delivered to our local aquarist who heads our technical college's Marine Studies Centre. What an experience! Thank you to this online community - you've been wonderful
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Ewwww! That's creeepy and cool at the same time! Now on I have to be extra careful when I buy stuff! who knows an octopus might come hidden in a rock camouflaged. That's will be my worst nightmare come true! The only thing that came hitch hiking with one of my orders is a brittle starfish.That thing was super creepy and I had to kill it. Who knows my tank is right beside my bed in my room I don't want that thing crawling on me.
