Worm ID (pics)

[MrX1oo1]

lots of these worms in my LR and there's actually two inside my bubble coral. good/bad, hurting my bubble?

 

[psychofishy]

This is probably your average, run of the mill "bristleworm". That's right a "bristleworm". All "bristleworms" are members of the Phylum Annelida, Class Polychaeta. Should you take it out? No way, most errant polychaetes (errant meaning that they move about freely searching for food) are beneficial scavengers and crucial members of the live sand community. Probably ninety-nine percent of the "bristleworms" are harmless and are reef-safe. These animals are active scavengers and predators, but most are strictly opportunistic. The predatory ones usually only consume other worms, detritus, bacteria, algae, micro-crustaceans and other things. This is a very positive and desirable activity. There are only a few notable exceptions to this rule that aquarists should be aware of, and even these exceptions are somewhat rare in aquaria. The primary exceptions are a few species of the Family Amphinomidae. One species in particular has become the stereotypical bad "bristleworm", the Caribbean Hermodice carunculata, but is rare in aquaria (probably due to the small amount of Caribbean rock used in our tanks) and it's diet is primarily gorgonians.


Source: http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/worms/faq_bristle.jpg/view?searchterm=phylum


basically... they're good for your tank.... no worries

 

[MrX1oo1]

ok good. now is having two of them inside my bubble coral's polyp a bad thing? or will the coral simply kill them as it grows?

 

[Dreaco]

wish I knew exactly what type it was too, I just found one just like that in my tank too!!

 

[Steveabg]

I have a couple of similar worms in my tank, and I wasn't that worried, until I was looking at my tank last night after lights out, and one of them was about 6 inches long! :eek2:

 

[LeslieH]

Those are amphinomids, either juvenile Eurythoe complanata or adults of a small species. Either way they're beneficial scavengers and detritivores.

 

[MrX1oo1]

what about them crawling inside of my bubble's polyp? will they cause more damage?

 

[LeslieH]

What exactly do you mean by inside? What part of the coral?

 

[MrX1oo1]

around the top of the polyp where the mouth and the flesh should be covering but exposed skeleton is allowing them to crawl into the coral. the bubble was damaged when i got it, so i've been trying to get it to heal. if I'm not making any sense i can take a pic.

 

[romunov]

I doubt the worm is causing any more damage. There are other things the coral has to worry about before it can overgrow (but worms will get out before/if they do). How long have you had the coral?

 

[LeslieH]

It's pretty simple - if the coral remains open and doesn't retract when the worm is in it then it's probably not being bothered.