Worm ID

[mcgyvr]

Found this worm winding around my green goniopora.. ID please
Its pink with darker color pink bands and about 5-6 inches long .. I don't see any bristles,etc.. It was pulsing when I saw it (like it was breathing)..best picture I could get..

 

[LeslieH]

It's a polychaete in the family Syllidae, probably genus Syllis, and most likely one of the few species known to be coral predators. I always hate to say this about a worm but you need to get rid of it.

Dropping it into alcohol & donating it to a museum would be a good way to go about it (hint, hint.....)

 

[mcgyvr]

Got it with the tweezers (got its tail end in one small piece first)... Fast bugger...Looking at pictures (with Leslies great start) it appears to my untrained worm eye to be a typosyllis nipponica (or atleast it has the same type/look of hairs/bristles) Looks just like the attached picture but is banded like in the picture I first posted

Leslie, I've got it in alcohol.. If you really want it I'll send it to you.. Just let me know. I'll keep it for a day or so then it hits the toilet.

 

[LeslieH]

Yup, it should look pretty similar. the genus Typosyllis has been merged with Syllis because the only difference was the type of setae (bristles) and someone decided that wasn't that important.

I really do want it. Besides the fact that syllids are among my favorite groups of worms, maybe I can identify this to species. It has shown up in several posts so it would be nice to learn a bit more about it. Do you know where the gonio came from?

I'll send you a PM with the museum address. Thanks!

 

[mcgyvr]

Got your PM.. I'll ship it out on Monday. Not sure where the gonio came from.. I'm going back to the fish store today (it's coral extravaganza day...there goes more money) and I will ask them if they know..

 

[LeslieH]

:beer::celeb1:

 

[Reeferchik]

I have a question but I can't figure out where the new post button is...please forgive me for jumping in on your conversation, but y'all sound like who I need to talk to!!! I need to know if I should be alarmed or not...Something caught my eye when I was looking into my tank...a very slight movement that looked like a little white hair...then I started noticing they were all over the top of my substrate, just waving in the current...I've never noticed them before and they are very thin and about an inch or so long (the part sticking out of the sand/crushed coral...I do have at least my fair share of bristleworms and these may very well be tiny babies, but if they are, I'll be in trouble when they grow up just due to the sheer numbers of them... I saw no bristles, but then, I was doing good to see the worms...with a magnifying glass, can y'all help me know what these guys are? There look to be thousands of them. Thanks ever so much and again, Sorry to butt in! Rc

 

[Gill_bucket]

Something caught my eye when I was looking into my tank...a very slight movement that looked like a little white hair...then I started noticing they were all over the top of my substrate, just waving in the current...

I have these in my tank they make a good addition to the clean up crew. I have noticed one in my pagoda cup grrrrr... but it seems to have done minimal damage. If they are the same as mine they will not grow any larger.

 

[Reeferchik]

AAhhh...Thank you very much Gill_bucket...Do you have thousands in your tank too? Do you know what they're called? Do you know how to post a new thread without just jumping on someone elses? :^)

 

[LeslieH]

Those are possibly the gills or feeding filaments of hair worms, polychaetes in the family Cirratulidae. The bodies are normally buried in sediment while the appendages stick out to collect detritus and absorb oxygen. If the "hairs" are in pairs then they are more likely to belong to another polychaete family such as the Spionidae or Chaetopteridae. They're all deposit feeders that take care of detritus.

In every forum there's the thread index. Above it on the left hand side is a button for "new thread".

 

[Reeferchik]

Thank you LeslieH! I appreciate your knowledge and experience. Ok, so I should just appreciate these little wavers for their clean-up ability? Do they have anything to do with the fact that the substrate has a hard crunchy layer on the top? Should I disturb this when I am siphoning? So much to learn...so little time!!!

Also thank you for the directions for how to post a new message!

I love this site, everyone is so pleasant and helpful...I may just move in here!!!