what's my critter? (tag along with lr)

[kumiko]

i found this little centipede-ish looking creature that crawled out of my live rock. his body is blue and his little leg things are white and red. does anybody have any idea what he is?

 

[thor]

sounds like a bristle worm. if it is get him out immediately because he is poisinous not deadly but if he gets you you'll be hurtin for a while

 

[kumiko]

ohh, but he's so cute! i figured he was a bristle worm. i really hate to just take him out and have him die. =(

 

[fshhub]

bristle worms, leave it in!IMO
they are great for detritus, and they are cool looking
there is a great varience in the opinion of brisle worms, but the fact is they do eat detritus, when we started, we wanted to oust them too, but later changed our minds, they do help keeping things clean
JUST, PLEEEASE
DO NOT TOUCH
they can be very nasty if touched, if you must remove them please use gloves and/or tongs

 

[kumiko]

if i leave him in will he hurt any fish that i get, like gobies and such?

 

[fshhub]

99% of your worms are not a problem, there are only one or two that i have ever heard of that were problems for tanks, i'm also going to assume that they are a rare species, or exceptionally large, i can't remember which but i don't worry about it in the least
hth
[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: fshhub ]

 

[goofieones]

Keep him!!

 

[fishermann]

i recently read an article & the brisselworm you shouldn't touch is the fire brissell worm hth

 

[kumiko]

well i definitely don't have a fireworm. i looked them up and they're pretty much reddish/orange. the one i found is blue, and i have kept him in the tank so far.

 

[schroder_reef]

I would keep him, in fact I just ordered some bristle worms, they are great for cleaning in DSBs where I don't want to reach when I do water changes... IMO>
Ambie

 

[jeffsz28]

I use to remove them to but they are hard to find so left them in their and they help tp strip up the sand,its fun to put them in cup of freahwater and watch them melt

 

[kumiko]

i left him in, and i haven't seen him since!
BUT, just as i was reading this, i looked over at my tank and i think i might have a tiny red banded serpentstar! i've seen little things sticking out of the rock, and now i realize that it was his little arms! he's crawling around on the sand now. =)

 

[cyn]

Jeffsz,
Please dont melt them!!! Send them to me.

 

[jakob4001]

well as with most inverts, it would seem to depend on whom you ask as to "what's this";also, pics posted in mags/books/online/personal pics may be the exact same species you have in your tank, but may not display the exact same body patterns or colors;some types of bistle worms may develope a taste for corals,tube worms, or even snails & clams; you just have to keep a watchful eye out; time will tell; have heard instances of large bristle worms being cause of death for few people each year (rare though & probably due to allergic reaction)but they are cool; especially the larger ones...jsut as long as they don't flip out & go all hannibal lector on my tank