need help with a strange hitchhiker id

[whysohigh]

its too small to get a good pic but heres what im dealin with.
out of a small hole in a rock i see 3 or 4 small what look like tentacles or worms. it almost reminds me of when my brittle star is in a rock and pokes his arms out.
but what im seeing appears to be only an inch or two long, redish and white bands or stripes if you will. and maybe the thickness of about 5 human hairs. when disturbed they sorta curl up and retract.
hope my description is good enough for someone to help, thanks in advance.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by whysohigh
http:///forum/post/3279785
its too small to get a good pic but heres what im dealin with.
out of a small hole in a rock i see 3 or 4 small what look like tentacles or worms. it almost reminds me of when my brittle star is in a rock and pokes his arms out.
but what im seeing appears to be only an inch or two long, redish and white bands or stripes if you will. and maybe the thickness of about 5 human hairs. when disturbed they sorta curl up and retract.
hope my description is good enough for someone to help, thanks in advance.
Could be many things.
I've had tons of baby brittle stars come as hitchikers on live rock
Could be bristle worms or some other worm.

 

[meowzer]

or one of those spaghetti worms....I think they have really thin tentacle looking arms (or whatever you call them)

 

[whysohigh]

i hope its not a bristle worm, ive not heard many good things about them.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by whysohigh
http:///forum/post/3279829
i hope its not a bristle worm, ive not heard many good things about them.
Then you have been highly misinformed. Bristle worms are basically harmless. Rarely does anyone ever get stung by one. IMHO and many others as well, bristle worms are extremely useful to a tank. They will clean out the tiny crevices in your rock that nothing else can get into. And if you start seeing tons of them, you know you're really over feeding your tank.
Fact is, I don't know any salt water tanks w/ live rock that don't have bristle worms.

 

[jstdv8]

best CUC in the tank IMO

 

[gilbert]

I think I have a whole bunch of those in my tank (the hitchhikers and the bristleworms). They have several "arms" coming out of a central point. Each "arm" has a base color with several stripes on it. When you try to touch it, they all retract. Is that what you have?

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by gilbert
http:///forum/post/3280326
I think I have a whole bunch of those in my tank (the hitchhikers and the bristleworms). They have several "arms" coming out of a central point. Each "arm" has a base color with several stripes on it. When you try to touch it, they all retract. Is that what you have?
What you're describing sounds a lot like small hitchiker brittle stars.

 

[ophiura]

I agree. Not juveniles either, full grown.
The larger arm in this case belongs to a closely related species, but the smaller brittlestar is full grown. Very common and beneficial hitch hikers.
Attachment 243725Attachment 243726

 

[btldreef]

Good to see you back on Ophiura!

 

[ophiura]

 

[gilbert]

They aren't. I think they're some kind of worm. They haven't moved since I first got them.

 

[whysohigh]

i really thought it was a brittle star also, but it hasnt moved in almost 5 weeks, plus i had a full grown brittle star that my damsel picked away at his arms untill they were each about a half inch long, havnt seen him since. now i see these 'tentacles' or whatever they are. i dont know if this helps but when i poke at them and they retract they always curl at the tip as they retract like they are rolling up.