URGENT What is eating my fancy Acans???!!!

[nepenthes99]

I just looked into my tank and found a few of my fancy Acans eaten down to the skeleton! Just earlier today they were beautiful and fully expanded. I found a blue leg hermit on it at the time and removed it. Could that be the culprit? My only other mobile livestock are turbo snails, a longspine urchin, and a small damsel fish. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
nepenthes99

 

[Jstn]

Oleone filgida

 

[nepenthes99]

Sorry I am a total LPS noob and could not find a description of that species online could you please post a pic or something?

 

[Jstn]

I had one munching my acans at night, they are super fast and really destructive.
Also only nocturnal and hard to find/catch.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2054909

 

[Reef Bass]

Jstn misspelled the name of the worm he was referring to, which is why you couldn't find anything on it.

And aside from the misspelling, it also appears to be an incorrect id, according to the thread Jstn was following to get his id:

...

Now about that name..... it's not Oenone fulgida. I didn't think it would be since it was eating corals. Oenone fulgida is almost always orange and the head is conical or round with 3 tiny antennae that are usually hidden by a skin fold. There are some good images of Oenone here
http://melevsreef.biz/node/659 and here http://www.roboastra.com/brunsworm/brwo375.htm and here http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=986437

What you have is a species of Lysidice, a genus in the family Eunicidae. The well-known palolo worm of Samoa belongs to this genus.

The worm identified in the quote above was a dread Eunicid.

 

[Jstn]

Jstn misspelled the name of the worm he was referring to, which is why you couldn't find anything on it.

And aside from the misspelling, it also appears to be an incorrect id, according to the thread Jstn was following to get his id:



The worm identified in the quote above was a dread Eunicid.

Yes I did misspell, I was on my phone. I feel my worm looks(Ed) more like the one in the links than a eunicid worm. Either way it is a good starting point for him.

 

[nepenthes99]

Thank you very much! My tank is infested with eucinids and I always considered them part of my CUC. I have never seen them eat any livestock. Should I acquire an arrow crab to control them?

 

[Reef Bass]

While you may have eucinids, it is more likely that you have lots of bristleworms, especially considering you've never seen them chew your corals, which is typical of bristleworms. Bristleworms are good detritovores, and a valuable member of your CUC, IMHO.

The two appear similar when small and one may need to examine mouthparts with a magnifying glass or something to accurately id them.

Jstn, do you have bristleworms in your tank and if so are there any quick visual differences you've been able to observe between them and your eucinid?

Thanks for relating your experience.

 

[nepenthes99]

If eucinids are the culprit, how would I exterminate them without harming the larger population of beneficial bristle worms?

 

[Jstn]

While you may have eucinids, it is more likely that you have lots of bristleworms, especially considering you've never seen them chew your corals, which is typical of bristleworms. Bristleworms are good detritovores, and a valuable member of your CUC, IMHO.

The two appear similar when small and one may need to examine mouthparts with a magnifying glass or something to accurately id them.

Jstn, do you have bristleworms in your tank and if so are there any quick visual differences you've been able to observe between them and your eucinid?

Thanks for relating your experience.

Yes, this worm is distinctively different. Here is a picture of its tail on the left, and a standard harmless bristle worm. Also they have "tighter" bristles, almost like they are in a bunch or a horn configuration. The standard bristle has them all down the side, also bristles retract in the flashlight, but this worm moves fast, its really hard to spot.

Best evidence to find him is look for "sand" on live rock with slime. They seem to excretes this paralyzing mucus, that irritates coral (acans) which causes them to shrivel up. I notices some sand and detritus on a high flow area with a slime similar in consistency to cyano abeit clear. And his home was within 3" radius of the damage zone, so if food is plentiful I believe they rather not travel.

 

[Jstn]

If eucinids are the culprit, how would I exterminate them without harming the larger population of beneficial bristle worms?

I happened to find his hole, then I was able to pull the rock, chip a half dollar size piece off and there he was, next I proceeded to use tweezers to pull him out as one whole worm.

Make sure you dont touch him, I hear the mucus can irritate you.

Man, was he ugly, but within a week of removal, my acans bounced back.

 

[Reef Bass]

Nice description Jstn, thanks.

I think that if you can't pull the worm out of the rock in the tank, pulling the rock out of the tank and getting the worm eventually that way sounds like a winning technique.

 

[nepenthes99]

Along with moving the coral to the opposite side of the tank, I also searched the rocks and found nothing. Just hours later whatever is eating them has found them again and has really devastated their central tissue. I am clueless as to what could cause this if eucinids are ruled out.

 

[Jstn]

If they are larger colonies, he could be living in them. I saw a picture of someone fragging a 3" acan colony that was affected, he found the worm in the center.

 

[Reef Bass]

he found the worm in the center.

Egad! :uzi:

 

[trae]

"Bobbit worm"? One was found in a 500 gal Oregon reef that started out as six inches. The owner tore the reef down, remove the PVC, and found the worm to be 7 feet long and filling the 3/4 diameter of the pipe. I am seeing more of these threads lately. Maybe someone should make a list of things that could harm tank owners. I have never heard of this worm that resembles a bristle until a month ago. Gloves and quarantine are a must in this hobby.

http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm

 

[Jstn]

Fyi, I found another acan eaten this morning, I am starting to think I have (had) two of these bastards. I found a potential hole, covered in stringy mucus and sand, I removed the acans from around this hole, and cleaned it off real good. I may try club soda, to flush him out or just watch tonight to see if my hypothesis is correct.

 

[trae]

worm

worm

Fyi, I found another acan eaten this morning, I am starting to think I have (had) two of these bastards. I found a potential hole, covered in stringy mucus and sand, I removed the acans from around this hole, and cleaned it off real good. I may try club soda, to flush him out or just watch tonight to see if my hypothesis is correct.

Try to use a red lens flashlight. It won't scare him away if you do see him.
Also, you are a brave one. After seeing video of what that thing can do, I would
not put my hand in there ever again. Unless I was armed with very long tongs and gloves.

 

[Jstn]

Yup, found another one, looks to be similar in size, tonight when I get home I am going to chip the rock and extract another one..

 

[Jstn]

I broke a piece of hte rock off, and found a 6" 1/8" thin worm. I decided to let the rock side out of water (after a DI bath, and Vinegar bath which killed all the bristles in a matter of 1h) for 48h. Today I go to replace the rock and find a 1/4" worm sticking out of the rock, I pull him and he is only 6" long. The real kicker is he is still barely ALIVE!. I am going to let this rock sit another day, I may of broke a piece of him off in the rock, so better to be safe than sorry.

What a pain these things are!