What the H### is this?

[phish guy]

i did some night watching and i came across this worm. it was huge. i didnt see the whole thing but when i shined the light at it, it retracted towards the head imbetted into the LR, at least one foot back into the live rock. it almost has the body of a bristle worm but the Bristles are not thin and small. it only had 2 rows of arms, kinda like a centipede, and the "arms" could move independently. let me know what you guys think based on these Pictures.

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=2eezdqb" target="_blank"><img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/2eezdqb.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=zyh4qv" target="_blank"><img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/zyh4qv.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

 

[32mm32]

Im thinking eunicid worm.

 

[samdaman]

Thats a bad boy I think

 

[89Foxbody]

Have you noticed any dead snails lately? Eunicids will usually eat your snails and leave mucous all over the place. They are nasty sum*****es.

 

[phish guy]

yes i have noticed alot of mucus around it. i havent noticed too many dead snails but i have so many, i cant really keep track. what about them makes them so nasty?

 

[zma21]

Kill it with fire.

 

[scubasteve06]

Either a Fire Worm or a Eucidnid worm. Pray its a Fire Worm even though they are still pretty nasty in their own right, eucidnid worms are just downright king kong and will eat anything they can. Do you have any fish that actually sleep like wrasses or scooter blenny's?http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=D8HoTMPSOYT7lwf32LmkDA&ved=0CBoQ9QEwAA

I think this looks exactly like the body of the worm you posted. I'd get that sucker out immediately and kill that SOB.

 

[89Foxbody]

Definitely try to get it out of there. Are you able to remove the rock its hiding in? They will eat anything small and they can get really huge, like, feet, in length. They'll eat anything they come across including sleeping fish like gobies, wrasses, etc that hide in burrows at night.

If you can remove the rock and get it out, definitely do it. You won't be able to trap it because they stay anchored in the rock and just pull back when they are startled.

 

[Salamander]

That there is a Oenone fulgida. A mollusk predator. It's a common worm but most don't know they have them since they only come out at night and retract so very fast. I saw a thread recently on a DIY trap some have had success with. Do a search.

 

[phish guy]

i dont know what rock he is in. i saw him through a bunch of rocks in the tank. i just went looking for him again and didnt see him at all. i hope to god he moves to a rock that is near the top of my tank so it will be easy access to get em out. if i cant remove the rock, what can i do?

 

[89Foxbody]

You'll have to fashion some sort of trap if you aren't able to get it out of the rock.

 

[scubasteve06]

Try putting a big piece of silverside, shrimp, krill whatever you can in a fish trap. Look up the bottle trap online. Get some Red Bull, No Doz and be prepared to stay up all night with a flashlight until he goes in. If you had moonlights it make make it easier to see him at night...fwiw

 

[JPMagyar]

A little devil's advocacy as it were . . .

First off I feel it's almost impossible to i.d. the son-of-a-gun from the picture you have, and then even if you could properly i.d. it I still wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure my tank has every variety of "Fire Worm" known to man in it. You can't lift up a rock with out finding one. The real problem for me is I have to be careful when working on the aquascaping 'cuz ain't nothin' worse than a finger full of fuzz that stings, but I have never seen one of these types of creatures hunt and kill anything. They are largely detrivores and feed on food bits left behind or dead bodies that are hidden in the crevices. It always amazes me how when a fish dies I never find the body :fun5:

Anyways, if it were me I'd leave it alone unless it happens to present itself for removal in a simple fashion some day, but that's just me :spin2:


Good-luck either way!

Joe

 

[phish guy]

A little devil's advocacy as it were . . .

First off I feel it's almost impossible to i.d. the son-of-a-gun from the picture you have, and then even if you could properly i.d. it I still wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure my tank has every variety of "Fire Worm" known to man in it. You can't lift up a rock with out finding one. The real problem for me is I have to be careful when working on the aquascaping 'cuz ain't nothin' worse than a finger full of fuzz that stings, but I have never seen one of these types of creatures hunt and kill anything. They are largely detrivores and feed on food bits left behind or dead bodies that are hidden in the crevices. It always amazes me how when a fish dies I never find the body :fun5:

Anyways, if it were me I'd leave it alone unless it happens to present itself for removal in a simple fashion some day, but that's just me :spin2:


Good-luck either way!

Joe

what you say makes sense. when i saw the thing, i saw its head or end (dont know which it was), digging in the sand. he didnt look like he was looking for trouble.

 

[32mm32]

i would take others advice and get the thing out. I believe it to be a eunicid type worm(many types) just from the pics and my past experiences with one. They kill anything they can catch. I witnessed the destructive side of the one i had and have to say i am more than happy i removed mine. No more missing fish and now i can keep clams alive. Oh almost forgot, i also have no more corals being torn up from the thing.

what you say makes sense. when i saw the thing, i saw its head or end (dont know which it was), digging in the sand. he didnt look like he was looking for trouble.

 

[AfricaOffroad]

I had some similar nasty looking critters in my tank

Use a red light after lights out (this colour light does not spook them)
Wait till they are out in the open and grab them with one of those long tongs.
Pulled 2 big ones out of my system like that

 

[Irvine Man]

Agree with extraction if you get the oppurtunity, I wouldn't hunt him all night long.

When you do catch him(or them, since he probably isn't alone), just make sure that you keep them submerged as you extract them from your fish tank, because when they are taken out into open air, they morph into dragons. And the last thing you want is a dragon problem in your home.

On a more serious note, but only slightly, make sure it flushes down really well if you go with that disposal method. Last thing you want is a little tickle in the middle of the night....

 

[noahm]

Even many Eunicid sp. are harmless, but most people get them out because the ones that are troublemakers are very destructive. I am a 'let it be' until it does something person, but it is your choice. If it is a killer, it can be trapped using a modified tube/bottle trap.

Worms:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

check out 'Max', the big Eunicid in the article.

 

[luv951]

I love sharing this story....not it was not my tank:

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

 

[seapug]

I could be wrong, but that just looks like a regular old bristleworm to me. They are the most unjustly maligned creatures in our tanks. They are detrivores that actually keep the tank clean. I've had some HUGE ones in my tanks (like AfricaOffroad's pics) that never hurt a single thing.

If you see the head and it has large "antennae" looking things then it's a Eunice worm. Those are a different story as they are very predatory and will rearrange your aquascape at night.