Killer bristle worm.

[shawnsghost]

I wouldnt have belived it if I didnt see it with my own two eyes. A 10 inch (really 10 inch) bristle worm chewing the leg of my CC star fish. Has anyone ever had this happen with one of these? I've always defened these worms pointing out there usefulness but i'm wondering if I should re-evaulate my position. Also any good ideas on how to get rid of this serpant?
SG

 

[bt_1999_66]

Would you have the chance to get a pic...?
If you do this would be awsome..!

 

[slothy]

a 10" ? man i would be afraid of one that big.... i hope you knew you had this your tank.. id love to see a pic

 

[shawnsghost]

I know where his "cave" is. I'm thinking about taking that piece of rock out and diping it in some high salinity water and see if he'll come out of there. If so I will get a pic for the records. Cause belive me after I get all thet will remain will be the pic...
SG

 

[mikegronholz]

Man I hope this isn't another "coral that grows 12 inches a minute" type story !!!

You are believed here, and I'd be glad to come help fish him out !!!

 

[shawnsghost]

mikegronholz:
Your not far from me...Your more than welcome to come and catch the thing...If ya get him i'll even let ya keep him!!!
SG
PS. Spare me. I read the giant sponge too.

 

[madd catt]

I have too in my tank and i did see 1 go after a sand star fish but again i think the sand star was not alive.

 

[beth]

Some varieties of brittle worms can actually get feet long, and can take out human fingers.
I have a 6" worm, actually have about 2 of these now. Was yours the half purple/half pink variety?
Do you feed your worms? I do, to hopefully avoid this type of problem. Just before lights out, some food goes in for them to munch down on. And believe me, within 15min of lights out, they are out scavenging and devouring. If they get that big though, you might want to try and find another home elsewhere for it.

 

[saltyrich]

I've believe that Bang Guy is the one for this topic. My understanding is that bristleworms are detrivores and are not capable of consuming living flesh (I believe I got this from Bang Guy's post awhile back). There is some morphological reason behind this. Obviously there are different knids of bristleworms. It is often assumed that they are killers when in fact they only prey on things after they die. Your post does not indicate that you saw the worm grab a moving starfish. The star may have passed on and the worm started doing what he does best. Just a thought. Hopefully, Bang will respond with useful info as usual.

 

[madd catt]

Yes the stafish i think was dead {falling apart] partly under the sand both did not arrive too well in shipment {the starfish} and did not make it too long after the acclimation period

 

[wrassecal]

You might do a search, I know SammyStingray has put some good info on bristle worms on this board too. And I too am looking forward to the pic.

 

[shadow678]

I can confirm that very large bristleworms will sometimes consume other animals in times where food may be scarce. I had an 8" bristle about .5" thick that I caught red-handed eating my elephant ear mushroom coral. It had eaten half of it by the time I found it. I removed the bristleworm, and the mushroom coral took about 5 months to fully recover.

 

[newreefers]

I have tons of these worms in my tank, all very small though, tell me they will not get that big!

 

[wrassecal]

They won't get that big
or maybe they will

 

[amoroso6]

good luck getting him out. I just pulled out a 9" bristle that nearly ate all my hermit crabs and half a bubble coral. I had to pull out the rock he was in and submersed it in fresh water and as he came out I got him with pinchers. caution: dont touch them with your hands there bristles will sting and make your hand feel like its on fire.
Alex