mudplayerx
Active Member
This post details the identification and the removal of the worm, Oenone fulgida. This worm looks like a bristle worm at a casual glance. A more careful examination will reveal that the worm does not have setae (bristles), but instead fleshy lobules. Oenone worms are also much quicker/alert than bristle worms and secrete a clear,viscous jelly.
The health of the corals that eat meaty foods in my tank has been declining lately. One day I found one of my fungia corals with a line "eaten" from the outside edge all the way to the oral groove. The food I just fed to the fungia was gone.
I've done some late-night observing and discovered the culprits to be Oenone fulgida worms. These guys have an incredibly fast predator avoidance response and secrete a clear, jelly-like substance that they glide through when they move. Needless to say they are very difficult to catch.
You cannot use a regular flashlight on them, as they retreat as soon as the beam hits them. You have to approach the tank carefully as well because just the vibrations from your footsteps will cause these worms to dart back into hiding. You will have to use a red light to view these worms without spooking them.
Red light is very easy to produce. You can buy a red bulb, but this is the least cost effective method. You can use a heavy permanent marker to color the entire lense of your flashlight. The method I use is to just stretch some red plastic over the lens and secure it in place with a rubber band.
You will need a trap to catch the Oenone worm. I have heard of people using tweezers to sneak up and catch these worms. While I am not saying that this is not possible, I believe that these accounts have mistaken another species of worm for the Oenone fulgida.
Your trap can be a commercial product such as Coralife's "Trap-Em" or you can make your own. If you have the larger Oenone worms (over 3 inches long) then a commercial trap probably isn't going to work. These worms can easily stretch out two to three times their original length and rarely leave their holes entirely.
An easy and inexpensive trap is actually the most effective. All you have to do is buy some clear tubing about 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter. Cut the tubing to a length of about one foot to one and a half feet. Simply shove a small bit of fresh seafood in one end of the tube and close that end off by putting a ziplock bag on it and securing it tightly with a rubberband. I cut a small section of ziplock back off so that there wasn't a large portion of bag floating around and getting in the way.
Put this device on the sandbed, next to the front pane of the fish tank. This is so that you can easily see, manipulate, and remove it. Within thirty minutes of having the lights off you should see the Oenone worm(s) poking out of the sand, secreting the unmistakable globs of clear mucus, and eventually venturing partly inside of the tube.
The difficult part of capturing Oenone worms is that they will never fully leave their burrows and venture inside of a trap. You will have to continuously check the trap.
To catch the worm you will need a prod, skewer, or something else long and skinny, and capable of reaching the bottom of the tank. When the worm looks to be at least halfway inside of the trap, use the skewer to carefully and very quickly hook under the rear portion of the worm and whip it upwards.
This seems to stun the worm as they don't want to venture further from their burrow and they don't want to return to the burrow where you are disturbing them with the skewer.
At this point you will either have the worm with most of its body inside the trap, and the rest of its body hanging out or the worm will have been whipped into the water column by your swift motion. If the worm is in the trap simply remove the trap and dispose of the worm. If the worm is floating around quickly catch it in a net. With practice you will be able to do this without the worm getting away more often than not.
If anyone has any methods for trapping Oenone fulgida worms without having to babysit the trap, feel free to post. I haven't been able to devise a trap that will get the worm to fully leave the sandbed or its burrow.
It is very important that you never touch these worms or let their mucus get on you. It is unknown if their mucus disables their prey mechanically or chemically, so there is a good chance that it contains toxins or acids.
Written by Mark Werenczuk
Keywords: worm, bristleworm, predatory, predator, nusiance, pest, hijacker, hi-jacker, Oenone, fulgida, large, trap, remove, removal
Credits:
The first photo is by Ronald Shimek, the second photo is by Dough a.k.a Mr. X.
The health of the corals that eat meaty foods in my tank has been declining lately. One day I found one of my fungia corals with a line "eaten" from the outside edge all the way to the oral groove. The food I just fed to the fungia was gone.
I've done some late-night observing and discovered the culprits to be Oenone fulgida worms. These guys have an incredibly fast predator avoidance response and secrete a clear, jelly-like substance that they glide through when they move. Needless to say they are very difficult to catch.
You cannot use a regular flashlight on them, as they retreat as soon as the beam hits them. You have to approach the tank carefully as well because just the vibrations from your footsteps will cause these worms to dart back into hiding. You will have to use a red light to view these worms without spooking them.
Red light is very easy to produce. You can buy a red bulb, but this is the least cost effective method. You can use a heavy permanent marker to color the entire lense of your flashlight. The method I use is to just stretch some red plastic over the lens and secure it in place with a rubber band.
You will need a trap to catch the Oenone worm. I have heard of people using tweezers to sneak up and catch these worms. While I am not saying that this is not possible, I believe that these accounts have mistaken another species of worm for the Oenone fulgida.
Your trap can be a commercial product such as Coralife's "Trap-Em" or you can make your own. If you have the larger Oenone worms (over 3 inches long) then a commercial trap probably isn't going to work. These worms can easily stretch out two to three times their original length and rarely leave their holes entirely.
An easy and inexpensive trap is actually the most effective. All you have to do is buy some clear tubing about 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter. Cut the tubing to a length of about one foot to one and a half feet. Simply shove a small bit of fresh seafood in one end of the tube and close that end off by putting a ziplock bag on it and securing it tightly with a rubberband. I cut a small section of ziplock back off so that there wasn't a large portion of bag floating around and getting in the way.
Put this device on the sandbed, next to the front pane of the fish tank. This is so that you can easily see, manipulate, and remove it. Within thirty minutes of having the lights off you should see the Oenone worm(s) poking out of the sand, secreting the unmistakable globs of clear mucus, and eventually venturing partly inside of the tube.
The difficult part of capturing Oenone worms is that they will never fully leave their burrows and venture inside of a trap. You will have to continuously check the trap.
To catch the worm you will need a prod, skewer, or something else long and skinny, and capable of reaching the bottom of the tank. When the worm looks to be at least halfway inside of the trap, use the skewer to carefully and very quickly hook under the rear portion of the worm and whip it upwards.
This seems to stun the worm as they don't want to venture further from their burrow and they don't want to return to the burrow where you are disturbing them with the skewer.
At this point you will either have the worm with most of its body inside the trap, and the rest of its body hanging out or the worm will have been whipped into the water column by your swift motion. If the worm is in the trap simply remove the trap and dispose of the worm. If the worm is floating around quickly catch it in a net. With practice you will be able to do this without the worm getting away more often than not.
If anyone has any methods for trapping Oenone fulgida worms without having to babysit the trap, feel free to post. I haven't been able to devise a trap that will get the worm to fully leave the sandbed or its burrow.
It is very important that you never touch these worms or let their mucus get on you. It is unknown if their mucus disables their prey mechanically or chemically, so there is a good chance that it contains toxins or acids.
Written by Mark Werenczuk
Keywords: worm, bristleworm, predatory, predator, nusiance, pest, hijacker, hi-jacker, Oenone, fulgida, large, trap, remove, removal
Credits:
The first photo is by Ronald Shimek, the second photo is by Dough a.k.a Mr. X.
