Goniopora Worm?

[JoshF7]

New large goniopora in my frag tank QT was fine for weeks, but has not been extending the last few days. Dipped it and found a few of these worms (see pic, not mine but one I found online that was better than I could get, but exactly this same worm). Wondering if I have a big problem here, or if these are more of an irritant than an eater of the coral? Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

I would make a wild guess at some type of bobbit, but that is wild.See if maybe someone else knows

 

[JoshF7]

I would make a wild guess at some type of bobbit, but that is wild.See if maybe someone else knows

Thanks for the reply. Whatever it was (there were two on mine) it has been removed after dipping and is now dead, and the coral has definitely improved. I just wish I knew what the heck it was.

 

[MartinM]

My goniopora has one also. You did a freshwater dip?

 

[JoshF7]

My goniopora has one also. You did a freshwater dip?

No, Coral Rx dip for me.

 

[alecj]

just found one on my goni not sure what it is but it was ticking off the goni

 

[krissiRLT]

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but wanted to document another occurrence of this. I saw a hole in my goni and it was ticked off for a week and then started bleaching. I’ve heard of burrowing worms in gonis so I popped it off the frag tile and when I did the rock under it just exploded in half and there were two worms living inside the rock and burrowing up into the Goni. One was pretty large and the other very small. I got a picture, but it looked a lot like the worm you posted here. Smooth, not bristley. Moved a lot, writhing more like a snake than a bristle worm.

.

 

[krissiRLT]

Got some better photos. They seem to make a calcified shell similar to a tube worm but completely inside the rock or Goni skeleton.

 

[VintageReefer]

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but wanted to document another occurrence of this. I saw a hole in my goni and it was ticked off for a week and then started bleaching. I’ve heard of burrowing worms in gonis so I popped it off the frag tile and when I did the rock under it just exploded in half and there were two worms living inside the rock and burrowing up into the Goni. One was pretty large and the other very small. I got a picture, but it looked a lot like the worm you posted here. Smooth, not bristley. Moved a lot, writhing more like a snake than a bristle worm.

.

Looks to be a syllidae worm and one you can chuck.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Got some better photos. They seem to make a calcified shell similar to a tube worm but completely inside the rock or Goni skeleton.

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

I would guess a Lumbrinerid worm of some variety - I know at least one species of Lumbrinerid (Helmutneris flabellicola) has been known to build mucus tubes inside of corals attached to (wrapped around) the corallum of the coral (Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) quadragenaria).

To quote about their diet:
"most lumbrinerids are carnivores on both sessile and motile prey, with a few herbivorous and subsurface deposit-feeding exceptions"*

The carnivorous ones tend to eat things like bivalves, snails, other worms, brittle starfish, and occasionally Heart Urchins (Spatangoida). The herbivorous ones feed on diatoms, sea grass, etc.

*Source:
Diet of Worms Emended: An Update of Polychaete Feeding Guilds - Appendix A - Family-by-Family Review
(The paper)

Diet of Worms Emended: An Update of Polychaete Feeding Guilds

Polychaetes are common in most marine habitats and dominate many infaunal communities. Functional guild classification based on taxonomic identity and morphology has linked community structure to ecological function. The functional guilds now include osmotrophic siboglinids as well as...

www.annualreviews.org

(The link you can download the Appendix from)

Diet of Worms Emended: An Update of Polychaete Feeding Guilds | Annual Reviews

Polychaetes are common in most marine habitats and dominate many infaunal communities. Functional guild classification based on taxonomic identity and morphology has linked community structure to ecological function. The functional guilds now include osmotrophic siboglinids as well as...

www.annualreviews.org

 

[krissiRLT]

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

Here are some pictures of its calcified looking home inside the rock/skeleton. 2 different gonis that were in 2 different tanks and also both quarantined and dipped multiple times.