Crazy Little Worms!?!

slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
Can anyone tell me what in the world these little guys are??? Im guessing some type of worm but havent seen any around the threads. I placed a new piece of live rock in the tank and about 10 fell out and dug into the sand bed. Earlier when I was dusting my live rock with a snot sucker I knocked one loose and he started to free float so I sucked him up to show everyone (thank god I finally figured out how to get my digital camera to focus on that tiny little guy). It looks to me that on each side of its body it has white spines in pairs running from front to rear. It is translucent (spellcheck?) and you can see its dark guts in an oval shape. It also appears to have a set of pinchers on its tail? Maybe used for anchoring itself down, or it could be mouth parts? Any ideas? Good or Bad?
First picture is a close up; second is a size comparison; third is a picture of one of the worms stretched out in LR (center left going from top to bottom-look for the orange)


 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
Hard to say from those photos, :notsure: ( good photos of a difficult subject ) but to me it looks more like some type of nudibranch, order Aeolidacea. Most feed on sessile invertebrates like sponges, sea fans, hydroids, corals, ect. that can supply them with toxins that provide them protection from preditors. Rarely survive long in aquariums unless you have their food source avalible.
 
slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
I know its hard to see in the last picture but that little guy streeeeeeeeeetches out about 4 times his size in the upper two pics. While stretched out it appears to have two small pinchers on its exposed end. You guys may know something I dont, but I've never seen a nudibranch that looked like this. When retracted and scared it does resemble one, but almost looks like a millipede when sticking out of LR. Here, I'll Highlight him for yall....
 
wyvern

wyvern

Member
Is the worm orange/red on the ends and black/grey in the middle? If it is, then I think it's a bristle worm.
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
Could very well be a bristle worm too. IMO, its not. I found these pics and thought they looked cool....a bristle, Hermodice caranculata, white tips but no pinchers that i can see.


 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
There are thousands of species of polychaetes, and it is one of the most difficult groups to identify. Basically if it is segmented, has little "paddles" composed of hairlike threads off the side...it is a bristleworm. A closer picture would help for sure.
 
slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
Originally Posted by wyvern
Is the worm orange/red on the ends and black/grey in the middle? If it is, then I think it's a bristle worm.
Yes
 
slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
There are thousands of species of polychaetes, and it is one of the most difficult groups to identify. Basically if it is segmented, has little "paddles" composed of hairlike threads off the side...it is a bristleworm. A closer picture would help for sure.
Has the little hairlike threads... I think yall have convinced me its a bristle worm... Possibly juvenile forms of something like Dogstar posted. I just dont buy the nudi theory.
 
ironsnipes

ironsnipes

Member
i was looking at my tank after work today and noticed something similar. small about 1/8 of an inch looks like a little clear ant with pincher on the tial no color at all. i noticed four of them in the front of my tank under the substrate, no camera sorry and clues as to what they are, parasite?
 
slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
Not to be an a$$ or anything but that would probably be a good topic to start in ANOTHER thread......... Thanks a million!
 
reefreak29

reefreak29

Active Member
Originally Posted by ironsnipes
i was looking at my tank after work today and noticed something similar. small about 1/8 of an inch looks like a little clear ant with pincher on the tial no color at all. i noticed four of them in the front of my tank under the substrate, no camera sorry and clues as to what they are, parasite?
sounds like an amphipode there harmless
 
reefreak29

reefreak29

Active Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
its a common beneficial bristle worm but not of the fireworm variety.
i agree not a fire worm
 
bigskyreef

bigskyreef

Member
It is a bristle worm. Don't worry, it is beneficial, eats detritis. Think of them like the earthworms in your garden, keeps substrate stirred. They also like to live in holes in live rock.
 
slowburn22

slowburn22

Member
Mine all seem to hang out in the live rock - I just found another post with the same "bristleworm" and the guy with 20+ thousand posts called 'em fireworms. Either way I now know that these are beneficial and will leave 'em alone. Thanks for the help...
 
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