worm

[pascal32]

found this guy cleaning the frag tank today. I saw a smaller one earlier on, that one vanished.

is this a traditional bristle worm? Should I be concerned I have these?

was about 5-6" when i caught him:

 

[superkat]

looks like a bristle to me. i've heard both good and bad about them. i've got a bunch in the 90g...seem to keep the sand bed pretty stirred up and clean.

 

[tmz]

Looks like a bristle worm( Polychaeta chloeia sp) . When they get that big the bristles could irritate corals as they crawl over them.

 

[pascal32]

Looks like a bristle worm( Polychaeta chloeia sp) . When they get that big the bristles could irritate corals as they crawl over them.

Interesting. The tank I found him in has most of my zoos. They have not been doing well lately, wonder if he has involved with that.

Should I be looking for more of these?

 

[tmz]

Too many or a big one may irritate the zoanthus and keep them closed which is obviously not good for them. On the other hand the bristle worms suck up rottty food ,etc which is helpful. I like leaving a few around.

 

[Grenade Glass]

is it possible for these to be green? I once saw something in my nano that looked JUST like that but green...

 

[tmz]

There are thousands of polychaetes( segmented worms) . Typically chloeia are red/redish. Never saw a green one.

 

[zooman72]

I have seen different species commonly in/ on live rock that were red, pink, green, blue, purple, and even yellow. As TMZ said, there are thousands of species, and in my limited observations and experience, the green ones commonly seen were a bit larger than then the reddish ones. The smaller ones tend to be quite beneficial, and even some larger ones are typically no bother, but there are some that can be problematic - but think of it this way, it just gives you one more excuse to observe your tank....

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I once saw a large bristleworm fall into my bubble coral. The coral stung and ate the worm. Plerogyra are wicked powerful stingers.

 

[solRNY]

nice pic! looks like it gots a belly full of something

 

[TripleT]

Good worm info: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html

 

[pascal32]

wow, great site! thanks!

 

[mr86mister]

That's one big kahuna!! Once they get large, as everybody else had already mentioned, they can irritate corals and especially zoanthids by crawling all over them. Good thing to have as long as there aren't too many and not too big.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

unless you're introducing additional worms to your aquarium

unless you're introducing additional worms to your aquarium

a worm population adjusts itself to food supply, predation etc.

*in other words*
one doesn't usually have "too many" in their aquarium.
I have a nice aquarium with many large worms present- they are the backbone of a natural cleanup crew.

to those it might concern:
all of my Zoanthids are doing just fine

 

[Jacwil]

Whoa!!! Did they come out of your sand bed Gary?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

these worms live in the rockwork and scavange the whole aquarium (including the sandbed) at night.

 

[Jacwil]

Gotcha...our basement 40B was going to house a large variety Stomatopod of the smashing type. Mostly from my own paranoia, I decided to place a sheet of acrylic on the bottom of the tank. Anyways, I never got the mantis but left the sheet on the bottom. It has now become a bit of a detritus trap but more on-topic, there are dozens of these BW's between the layers of glass and acrylic.

 

[pascal32]

a worm population adjusts itself to food supply, predation etc.

*in other words*
one doesn't usually have "too many" in their aquarium.
I have a nice aquarium with many large worms present- they are the backbone of a natural cleanup crew.

to those it might concern:
all of my Zoanthids are doing just fine

that is wild!