Interesting Yellow Worm

[IKD]

Yes, and two mantis shrimp… trying to figure out how they died being covered by a huge slime blob is how I found out about the worms. The biocube is covered in algae since I can’t put anything in there to take care of it. If you see it again and it doesn’t look like an orange millipede, it’s probably not an oenone fulgida.

I haven’t tried to put anything in the tank in years so maybe they could have died out but not likely. I think I’ll have to move all the rocks and sand out into a seperate empty tank and test a snail in the cube

Have you tried putting a couple live snails in a trap as bait to see if you can lure it into the trap?

 

[wtdenk]

Perhaps it is in this family, but without seeing it's head it is hard to classify
You can get lost here on all the diff types

Worm Hitch Hikers

The identification of Worms found within live rock and live sand

chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net

Interesting tidbit from this article:

"Once an Oenone individual is presumed to be living in a tank, the hobbyist must watch it withdraw in order to see where its burrow is found. After the rock with the burrow is located, the rock must be removed and the animal flushed from its burrow using a flood of carbonated water (soda pop works well). The worm is then discarded, and the rock replaced in the aquarium."

Remove the rock and dump soda on it? This should be entertaining

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Another name for these guys is Orange Worm. They’re awful. +1 kill it with fire!

 

[Hadla]

That’s if you’re lucky to have just one… and they’re hard to get with traps cause they won’t leave their burrow completely and once there’s a tiny bit of movement near them, they’re gone

 

[Tired]

Mine is glass but I have the 29 so idk and not sure about urchins

Tuxedo urchins don't get large, so a 29 with no snails and a surplus of algae should work just fine. They aren't very sharp or long-spined, so they won't stab corals. They can shove things over, and will carry small frags, but that might be better than having algae everywhere.

Though, baiting a trap with live snails is probably a good idea. Alternately, use live snails as bait and watch at night with a red light, and grab that sucker with tongs when it comes out.

 

[IKD]

Based on the above horror stories, and this rock being in an observation tank, I wouldn’t take a chance there aren’t eggs or others you can’t see yet. I’d sterilize the rock or toss it and not deal with the potential headache others have experienced.

 

[wtdenk]

Another pic. Any chance it's not an Oenone?

 

[IKD]

Another pic. Any chance it's not an Oenone?

You could try putting a snail in there and observe it’s behavior to it.

 

[wtdenk]

You could try putting a snail in there and observe it’s behavior to it.

There are 4 Astreas and some limpets in there. No deaths observed in a few weeks so far.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Dont get me wrong, that is a very attractive critter. If it was my tank, its gotta go. No way on knowing if its going to reproduce and is definitely a predatory worm. Worms are adaptable to the worst of conditions even low amounts of food. If I were in your predicament, This is War.

 

[IKD]

Have you come across this site? Wonder if you have this one. Can you see it’s mouth clearly?

The Phyllodocidae - The phyllodocids are slender errant worms often brilliant green, yellow or red. Most of them live in crevices and under stones. Active predators of other small worms. The phyllodocids are common shallow-water polychaetes commonly associated with hard substrates and corals rather than mud and sand.

Worm Hitch Hikers

The identification of Worms found within live rock and live sand

chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net

 

[Hadla]

No that’s not an oenone fulgida, they don’t have furry looking sides like that

 

[wtdenk]

No that’s not an oenone fulgida, they don’t have furry looking sides like that

Hope you're right. I'm going to try to trap it regardless, but still.

 

[Tired]

Try to trap it alive, and get some nice up-close pics of it, in water, for a good ID. Hopefully it's something you can keep. A pint or so of clean tank water should keep it alive for awhile so you can get IDs.

 

[jabberwock]

I am useless, but following.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

"...the animal flushed from its burrow using a flood of carbonated water (soda pop works well). The worm is then discarded, and the rock replaced in the aquarium."

Remove the rock and dump soda on it? This should be entertaining

Just like cleaning a car battery!

 

[WheatToast]

KILL IT WITH FIRE! That is an Oenone worm, family under Eunicida, and one of the worst worms you can ever possibly get in your tank.

They are predators of other worms, clams and gastropods(snails). I've battled them continuously in all the 17 years I've been in the hobby. My 15-gallon tank is balanced on a razors edge nutrient wise, as I have no possibility of snail-based algae control, due to their presence.

Edit: They secrete a thick snotty mucus that contains a paralytic venom, and are also capable of dissolving and boring through shells.

I also have an Oenone infestation in my main display tank, which has killed off all the grazing Trochus and Lithopoma snails in said display. However, they have not managed to kill my sand-dwelling mollusks (conchs, Nassarius snails, and Mercenaria mercenaria clams) nor eliminate my rapidly-breeding grazer populations (Dove, Cerith, Collonista, and Stomatella snails). Oddly, one of my conchs tried to eat their mucus once without ill effect.
I have tried to trap them with plastic bottle/straw traps, though I think they escaped since the holes in the bottles (to insert the straws) were too large and I probably should have put rubble in the traps (as you mentioned before) to help the worms feel secure. I was left with ungodly amounts of worm mucus, though . I have also considered using arrow crabs, but it looks like these can terrorize their tankmates when they get large.

This one released purple ink when I caught it:

 

[Tamberav]

Yes, and two mantis shrimp… trying to figure out how they died being covered by a huge slime blob is how I found out about the worms. The biocube is covered in algae since I can’t put anything in there to take care of it. If you see it again and it doesn’t look like an orange millipede, it’s probably not an oenone fulgida.

I haven’t tried to put anything in the tank in years so maybe they could have died out but not likely. I think I’ll have to move all the rocks and sand out into a seperate empty tank and test a snail in the cube

ever dipped the rocks in peroxide? Or partial tank water with peroxide until bubbling? I find that does a number on worms.

 

[Tamberav]

One does not buy gulf live rock only to sterilize it at the sighting of a potential pest. Pests come with the territory and sounds like the OP is on top of it by QT the rock.

No confirmed ID has been made yet so here is hoping for something more benign.

It is a very cool looking worm. If bristleworms came in that color… they would be designer worms lol

 

[Hadla]

Here’s the only predator (for sale) to oenone fulgida: https://reeftopia.com/collections/marine-snails/products/regius-cone-snail-conus-regius

I’ve been waiting to get one for my biocube. I feel the pain of having them so long in a tank I’m actually not even sure they’re still in there though. The tank is covered in algae (since snails can’t clean it) and I rarely feed the tank since there’s nothing but live rock in it