id bristle worm
- Thread starter cooqie
- Start date
coraljunky
Active Member
Look like this? Then yes, bristleworm.
coraljunky
Active Member
No worries. Likely to cause a skin irritation if you touch it while your hands are in the tank tho.
Description:
Bristleworms range in size from small (about 1" long) up to very large at about 20" in length. Most small ones are an orange color, sometime appearing two-tone in color. Larger bristleworms are frequently gray or brownish in color. Bristleworms are composed of many segments and have bristles (setae) which extend from both sides of its body along its entire length, hence their common name. These setae are clearly visible in the picture above. Bristle worms live in the sand or within the live rock. They are nocturnal and not usually seen during the day.
Good or Bad?:
This is a tough one. Historically, bristleworms were all considered to be bad. Most literature warns that they can attack and eat clams, anemones, corals and even fish.
Recently, most hobbyists have come to the conclusion that small bristle worms pose no threat to other tank inhabitants and are in fact good scavengers and add to the biodiversity of the tank. You can even buy bristleworms from some sources.
Even large bristleworms are starting to be better understood. Although it appears that some large bristleworms can be aggressive predators, these seem to be in the minority. Many large bristleworms seem to fall into the harmless scavenger category. The one in the picture above has been in one of my tanks for several years. It is about 1/3" across and at least 12" long although I have only seen about 6" of it. It lives next to a group of clams and has never shown any interest in bothering the other creatures in the tank. He is a very impressive looking specimen in his own right.
Description:
Bristleworms range in size from small (about 1" long) up to very large at about 20" in length. Most small ones are an orange color, sometime appearing two-tone in color. Larger bristleworms are frequently gray or brownish in color. Bristleworms are composed of many segments and have bristles (setae) which extend from both sides of its body along its entire length, hence their common name. These setae are clearly visible in the picture above. Bristle worms live in the sand or within the live rock. They are nocturnal and not usually seen during the day.
Good or Bad?:
This is a tough one. Historically, bristleworms were all considered to be bad. Most literature warns that they can attack and eat clams, anemones, corals and even fish.
Recently, most hobbyists have come to the conclusion that small bristle worms pose no threat to other tank inhabitants and are in fact good scavengers and add to the biodiversity of the tank. You can even buy bristleworms from some sources.
Even large bristleworms are starting to be better understood. Although it appears that some large bristleworms can be aggressive predators, these seem to be in the minority. Many large bristleworms seem to fall into the harmless scavenger category. The one in the picture above has been in one of my tanks for several years. It is about 1/3" across and at least 12" long although I have only seen about 6" of it. It lives next to a group of clams and has never shown any interest in bothering the other creatures in the tank. He is a very impressive looking specimen in his own right.