goniopora receding (found a worm)

[hifi]

We have a goniopora thats slowly receding. Its not brown jelly & I have alveeohpora that was about 3" away & its thriving. We have been moving it with no results. Its receding rapidly & its looks healthy (whats left) & I spot feed. Today we were moving it again & found a worm, I have never seen a worm like it befor. I took a picture but it didn't turn out & I flushed the worm. Its has a body like a bristle wrom but 1/2 as skinny & is stripped, like brown/red & whitish grey, 4" long. A close look showed bristles along the length & they were really fine, & about 4 feelers on its head I assume it was its head. Could this be the reason it was receding? I know its hard without a picture but does anyone have an idea what kind of worm it was or have seen one?

 

[john kelly]

It's a blue tailed syllid worm. They are often seen on Goniopora, but not known to be harmful to them; although, they can sometimes irritate the polyps and cause them to retract.
You say the tissue is receding slowly, then you say it is receding rapidly ???
Starvation will cause the tissue to recede.
Lack of light on the lower polyps will cause the tissue to recede down low.
Gripping the coral by the tissue when moving it around can damage the tissue and cause it to recede.
If the coral is bleached and lacking zooxanthellae, this will cause the tissue to recede.
Amphipods munching on the tissue around the lower perimeter will cause it to disappear.
and of course.... Brown Jelly will cause the tissue to disappear.

 

[hifi]

Thanks for the reply, its not brown jelly I know that for sure. I had meant it started slowly then started to reced faster as time went on. We had moved it a couple times & now have found a spot where it seams happy & has slowed down receding. Dont think its lack of light because it started right on the top. But it has slowed for now & hopefully grow back.