Types of BIG worms

[Logzor]

Staring into my tank this evening, hours after all the lights have been turned off I noticed a huge worm.

It was coming out of the bottom of an old piece of live rock from a long established tank and from somewhere else before then.

This rock was donated to me when I started my tank about 2 months ago.

The length of the worm that I saw was about 3 inches long and between 1/2 - 1 cm wide. The shape was quite tubular, banded, and possibly a purplish pink color.

What I thought appeared to be the head was the abrupt end of its tubular body. It looked like there was just a hole at the end.

Any ideas of what this could be?

 

[rharr21]

Euchnid worm maybe?

 

[spunkyreefer]

was it red and black with spines or was it yellow??

 

[LeslieH]

More importantly, did it have bristles or "legs" or was it smooth?

 

[Logzor]

It was totally smooth. No legs no nothing. Definitely not a bristle worms. It was much like an earthworm only more stiff looking.

I read some stuff on the information pages and it sounds like a nermerean worm. It described it as looking a lot like an elephants trunk. The worm that I saw also looked similar to an elephants trunk.

Has anyone had experience with these worms?

 

[LeslieH]

That's what I suspect too. Nemerteans are predators. They'll go into tubes to get worms & crustaceans, swallow nudibranchs whole, and eat a variety of other organisms. I don't know if they go for any kind of corals. A big enough one could capture small fish that sit on rocks or sand.

 

[Logzor]

I havent noticed anything disappearing. All of my corals stay whole looking.

I only have a few crabs and snails so I would have noticed if some went missing. This is in a 55 gallon tank with about 100 pounds of live rock.

In addition I have tons of other tiny creatures inhabiting the tank. I have some white tube worms on the back of one rock that have a head similar to feather dusters, bristle worms, tiny roach shaped translucent bugs, small coiled worms on the outside and sticking out from rocks, and who knows what else.

This morning I looked in one of the smaller holes near where the big guy came out. I saw a small purple worm that was slightly translucent. I am not sure if it was a smaller version or not.

Should I try and get this guy out? If so, how could I?

 

[LeslieH]

They will also scavenge so try baiting it out just to take a picture. We think it's a nemertean but without a picture we can't be sure. Use a turkey baster or a pair of large forceps to grab it; if that doesn't work try placing the bait in a tilted glass or bottle.

 

[Logzor]

I might try that.

What type of bait do you think I should use? From various fragswap raffles I have about every pellet, flake, capsule, freeze dried, and frozen product you can think of.

 

[LeslieH]

A chunk of fish or shrimp might do it if it's a scavenger.

 

[Logzor]

I got a picture of the worm. It seems that there is a grey one as well as an orange one. My roommate took this last night.

 

[LeslieH]

Thanks, Logzor. It's a start but the pic's 'too small to see enough detail. Would you please repost it much larger or take it again in a higher pixel size?

The purplish one sorta looks like a fragment of a nemertean - the "mouth" would be where the animal split. If that were the case it wouldn't come out or feed. There's not enough detail on the orange one at all, sorry.

 

[Logzor]

I saw the worm tonight in much more detail. Sorry no good pic of it yet.

The part that I saw was around 3 inches long, purple flecked with brown, very tubular.

As I shined the flashlight on the worm it retracted, not as if by physically moving its body, but by "sucking" itself inside-out, or wrapping up inside of itself. It seemed to sort of melt itself back into the rock. The body of it just flowed into the center mouth area.

Are you familiar with those jelly-tubes that are squishy and when it squeezed it perpetually moves inside of itself?

The movement of this worm was exactly like this.

I hope this description helps with the identification.

 

[LeslieH]

Good description! That's exactly how the extended proboscis of a peanut worm (phylum Sipuncula) retracts. Take a look at this Reefkeeping article for more info on the group -
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rs/index.php

If that's what you have don't worry about it. Sipuncs are harmless, beneficial detritivores that pick up organic particles for food.