What are these?

[luisprado]

Can someone tell me what these spaghetti looking worm things are? They stretch out pretty long.

Also do I need to get rid of them? and How?

Thanks.

 

[NicoleC]

A sedentary polychaete worm. If there are two tentacles, it is likely a member of the Spionidae or Chaetopteridae family.

Anyway, they are good guys and are excellent clean up crew.

 

[diddye]

they can sometimes irritate corals by touching them constantly.

 

[luisprado]

Yeah! The reason those zoas are closed up is because it was reaching over and touching them all over the place. In those cases, should I just leave the worm there or is there a way to remove it?

 

[NicoleC]

Usually these are in a sand bed because they make their tubes (castings) by gluing sand particles together. If you can move the casting without destroying it, then you are good. Otherwise...

I never had any corals close because of these worms, and I have a million of them. Perhaps it was just the corals got used to them?

Anyway, I would be more concerned about those white things in the upper right hand corner of the picture near the top of the zoa colony that look a bit like zoanthid-eating nudibranch tentacles. If you can remove the colony and check it for egg cases and/or adult nudibranchs, that may ease your mind a bit.

 

[Sk8r]

I have lps near them and no problem.

 

[luisprado]

Thanks Nicole, I will look into that nudibranch thing as soon as I get home tonight.

 

[NicoleC]

Nudibranch here, except the zoanthid eating ones are usually brown ranging pale beige:

Egg cases look like a tiny spiral of pearls and will be located between polyps or at the base of polyps.