Worm question

[AJSTITAN14]

We have some sort of a worm that I believe i sa peanut worm living in one of our rocks. He appears to eat by passing sand through his gut and digesting whatever micro life happens to be on the sand. In the morning I find these long thin worm shaped pieces of sand on the surface of the substrate.

We have seen this worm several times and he is a smooth grayish brown with a funnel shaped mouth. The mouth looks like a cone shape perssed into the tip of the worm.

 

[LeslieH]

Whatever your question is it would be nice to have a photo )

 

[AJSTITAN14]

Yeah, sorry I was at work.

I was wondering what this style of eating was called and what the leftover strings of sand were called.

In re pictures it's not going to happen any time soon. I don't have a camera now and I'm losing my job on the 30th. Besides that this worm is very shy and I've only ever seen him with a flashlight and I'm not sure I can get a good shot of him having to juggle cameras and flashlights.

 

[LeslieH]

Ah.... the animal is a detritivore. The processed sand is wrapped up in mucus as it travels through the digestive tract. The mucus holds together for a short while after passing through. Some animals specialize in eating these feces and get their nutrition from the mucus. A common name for the sand strings is "casts", as in cast-off.