Mysterious Long Sweeper Tentacles.

[jvan]

I've got some weird sweeper tentacles coming from a small cave in a piece of rock. There are no corals around it, the closest thing to it is a feather duster in the same rock. It contracts by itself or if I touch it with something. There are quite a few coming out of the same place. The longest one has been out to about 5". Any ideas? I'll try to get some pics on here later tonight.

 

[jvan]

The long one is easy to see, but there are several more that lead up into the little cave.

 

[meowzer]

Could be a spaghetti worm

 

[slice]

I can't see squat from that pic except maybe some nassarius snails and some debris. Are these "sweeper tentacles" segmented? Could they be brittle star arms?
Or are you seeing bristle worms? What color are they? I have several large bristle worms that extend from holes in the rock that could be misidentified as...well, not sweepers, but unknown reaching things.

 

[slice]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/390300/mysterious-long-sweeper-tentacles#post_3455480
Could be a spaghetti worm

A 5" spaghetti worm?!?
Dang, break out the parmesan, let's eat!

 

[meowzer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice http:///t/390300/mysterious-long-sweeper-tentacles#post_3455485
A 5" spaghetti worm?!?
Dang, break out the parmesan, let's eat!
read this
Spaghetti worms belong to the order Terrebellida and the family Terrebellidae. Scientists denote terrebellids for their tentaclelike palps, which resemble spaghetti floating in water. On larger terrebellids, the palps grow to 0.25 inch wide and can reach lengths up to 3 feet. The spaghetti worm uses the palps to funnel small food down a groove and toward their mouth. Terrebellids also have two pairs of lips on their mouths and three sets of gills.
Read more: Spaghetti Worm Classification | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8593079_spaghetti-worm-classification.html#ixzz1lNDqXdSu

 

[slice]

Read this and believe:
http://www.venganza.org/about/

 

[jvan]

Thanks for all the quick replies! I'm still pretty new to this, I've only had the tank running about 1 1/2 yrs. I think it's a spaghetti worm. It's smooth, not segmented, doesn't really look like any type of bristle worm that I've seen. I haven't seen the body tho, it's hidden in the rock. I've never even heard of spaghetti worms until now. I've read up on it now, sounds like it shouldn't be problem unless it moves close to my zoos.
Thanks for all the help!