black bristleworm?

dive girl

Member
eeewww.
My fish don't seem bothered by it and I don't see any problems with my corals so I was thinking about leaving it. It certainly didn't bother my pistol shrimp as the shrimp chased it away from it's domain. (It looked like it wanted to eat the molting of the shrimp until I took a photo.)
 

jimmy 4

Member
I might be mistaken but I think that that worm is really bad to have in your tank. It doen't look like any bristle worm that I have seen.
 

jimmy 4

Member
It looks like it is a Eunice sp. It says that they eat small invertebrates and shrimp. Probably a bad thing to have in a reef.
Here is what some other people said about it
Rob Hill said,
on December 15th, 2007 at 12:09 am
hi there, These are also called “Bobbit Worms” they can get very larg. and be very agressive. if well fed they wont bother anything. BUT be Warned. I had one in my tank took me months to catch, Unfortunatly I ended up killing it in the process. Pitty as I used to love our games of hide and seek. very interesting to watch. Very strong, Very quick. The one in my Tank when we finaly got both halves out was just under 7ft. Amazing when you looked at where it lived. they break up rocks and glue them back to gether again to make a nest. I have heard of these upto 10ft pluss in a tank. but rare.I would never of beleved the size of ours if i hadnt got it out of the tank. just a note: a bristleworm trap is just a food cupboard to them. they put head in, take the food while rest of body is still wrapped up in its rock. to give an idea of their strength, they can move a 5kg peace of live rock. and they can break it up into very small bits. so watch your fingers. there are a lot of monsters in horror films based on these chapps.
If you want to catch it? you may need to find out which rock it lives in, and remove the whole rock to catch it.
Good luck.
Patty said,
on May 26th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I had a red bobbit worm that attacked my sleeping Blenny……….. it ripped his fin off……….. now my little Blenny is no more…………. we found the rock this evil predator was living in after quarrantining it in a specimint tank to make sure it was there ………….. the rock was destroyed. I couldn’t get a photo of the worm as it was always too quick at withdrawing, so being an artist I digitally painted what I saw……… AND in my internet artwork portfolio , I have put a warning about this evil predator. In the hope that other reef keepers will protect their fish from this pest.
 

ebob954

Member
Get that thing out of your tank right away. Even if it was safe why would you want that thing in your tank. ewwww. I just got the chills looking at that. You want your reef tank to be peaceful and beautiful to look at. That thing does niether one. Take it out and flush it.
 

flower

Well-Known Member
Don't touch it with your hands, I think (not possitive) that it does sting like a bristle worm.
I read the same article, and you need to get rid of it. ASAP
IMO ugly is no reason to kill something. That is not why I would kill it. I think my cleaner shrimp is eeeew looking and he is a good guy! (shrimp look like a bugs to me)
 

bang guy

Moderator
Of the 10,000 species of Bristleworms all but a dozen or so are beneficial or harmless.
You have defied the odds. (That is NOT a beneficial Bristleworm)
If it were mine I would set up a small species tank and keep it. I would not leave it in a reef tank though.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Dive Girl... can I have that if you catch it?
I would love to trade you for some phyto or some copepods for your horse :)
 

dive girl

Member
Oh lucky me! Why couldn't I just win something that I'd want???
Hey Cranberry! Sounds like a good trade (I'm crossing my fingers that it can be caught).
I bought a bristleworm trap today and can only hope. It gives me the chills but it is kind of cool.
 

dive girl

Member
For everyone's viewing pleasure....
In the first picture below, that isn't the size of it. It is coming out from under a rock. That is the molt of a cleaner shrimp near it.

 

flower

Well-Known Member
Use gloves or pinchers to grab it and put it in fresh water, or no water at all. It will die.
It is a nasty bugger. I had a good sized frogspawn with four heads, disappeared overnight completely ate up. I went hunting in my tank, checking every rock and found the little killer.
I had to do something, the fox coral looked munched on too.
 

jchmiel

Member
looks at my photo, i think its the same kind but mines red. Still in the tank for about a year now. He never touched anything that I know of.
 
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