so what is this green worm?

[twon8]

spotted this in my 90 tonight, first time ive seen it, it has to be at least a foot long. it came out right after i put a sea hare into the tank, and seemed to be sniffing around where the sea hare just was.






it def has a forked? head, withe some white markings
when it retracted(top pic) it seemed similiar to a peanut worm retracting, like a tube sock being pushed down(if that makes any sense). any ideas?

 

[LeslieH]

That's a nemertean, Notospermus tricuspidatus. A predator on small organisms like other worms, small crustaceans, etc. It won't touch your corals unless it's crawling in their area.

 

[twon8]

thanks, i found an old thred in reef discussion about it

would it possible feed on a sea hare? i literally had just put it into the tank, right where the worm came out ten seconds after. and it was "sniffing" around, as much as a thing without a nose can, in the direction the sea hare had gone.

 

[twon8]

also, how poisonous is it? should i be worried about putting my hands in the tank?

 

[LeslieH]

It certainly might. There's photographic evidence of other nemertean species eating nudibranchs and sea hares. Here's one case:
www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=17404

Some nemerteans also have toxins which they emit through their skin or in their mucus and which serves to make them distasteful to fish. Others don't. There aren't any recorded instances of nemertean toxin having an effect on people. I'd just observe the same caution handling nemerteans as you should with any tank critter or rock -- always use gloves & never wipe your eyes, nose, skin, etc. with a hand that's been in a tank. There have been some truly horrific stories from a few reefers who were unlucky enough to run into something nasty in their tanks.

 

[twon8]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11168877#post11168877 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LeslieH
It certainly might. There's photographic evidence of other nemertean species eating nudibranchs and sea hares. Here's one case:
www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=17404

thanks for the link; i think i'm going to hope to get it out of my tank. I emailed someone from si in one of the responses to see if he would be interested in it. Do you think it would be of interest to anyone?

just trying to firm up what i'm going to do with it before i try and catch it.

 

[LeslieH]

Jon (the SI guy) might want it but it is a common species so he may already have enough. There are a couple people on here who like worms or want specimens for their classes. Maybe one of them will speak up.

 

[mastou]

Does anyone know if these worms also eats flatworms? At least it could be interesting if the worms would eat nudi's of the Phyllodesmium type since these (at least many - if not all?) are coral predators. Maybe this is a possible "in tank" treatment

/Magnus

 

[LeslieH]

Not that much is known about what individual species of nemerteans eat. Since Phyllodesmium are aeolids & eat corals they probably transfer the unfired nematocysts into their own cerata for defense. It would be interesting to see if the Notospermus or any nemertean can eat them.

 

[mastou]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11173665#post11173665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LeslieH
Not that much is known about what individual species of nemerteans eat. Since Phyllodesmium are aeolids & eat corals they probably transfer the unfired nematocysts into their own cerata for defense. It would be interesting to see if the Notospermus or any nemertean can eat them.

The nematocysts might scare some worms, but it would be great if some of the Notospermus could be used as a biological treatment.

Maybe a project for a professional worm wrangler If a suitable Notospermus species could be found I am sure SPS keepers would smile while paying for a bunch of such worms

How rare are these worms, and is it at all possible to distinguish between species?

/Magnus

 

[LeslieH]

Sorry, I didn't see your post earlier, Magnus.

A project for a professional breeder, not a person who wrangles dead worms! Pity, I could use the money.... The problem with using predators to eat problem animals like flatworms & nudis is that they either die after the food critters are gone & spike your tank or they start eating other things that you want untouched.

Nemerteans are not rare at all and I think Notospermus tricuspidatus is common as it gets photographed a lot. Some nemerteans have unique color patterns (like this guy) and can be easily identified. Others can only be identified after being collected.