Jawfish = Bristleworm Eater!

[VR28man]

Something odd happened this morning before I fed the fish. I took out a coral a sec to wipe off some algae, and found a (harmless) bristleworm. I tossed the bristleworm back in the tank, like I've done before with others, to just let it sink to the bottom. Unfortunately, the two clowns and a firefish took a quick nab at it as it sunk before going away. (aka, bristleworms aren't tasty! At least not to them)

So I thought the yellow headed jawfish (from the Keys collected by kpaquatics) would do the same. Instead, she nipped, and then she surprised me by swallowing the whole thing. She spent about ten seconds chewing and swallowing it. And then went on to eat just fine a few minutes later when I fed all of them.

I'll post if anything bad happens to her. But I have a feeling they naturally do this to some degree; they burrow a lot and I guess if they get a bristleworm in there they'll swallow it as well.

 

[cdhappy]

That’s great, I had no idea the ate bristleworms! Keep us posted if something happens to the Jawfish. Overall I think bristleworms are good, but I’ve always thought it’d be nice to have some form of population control.

 

[VR28man]

Just a quick update on this: the jaw fish remains apparently perfectly fine.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Ha! Cool! I hadn't ever heard of them being a predator to bristle worms. I wonder if it's more of an occasional thing or something they do actively.

 

[VR28man]

Yeah, I think it's something they do occasionally. They don't go out of their way to do it, but if they uncover one while digging, they'll get one.

The interesting question is if they'll pick them of the rock. Since they're diurnal - or at least seem keep the "doors" to their burrows shut at night - and since the worms come out at night (mostly), I kind of doubt it.

But a lot of Jawfish burrowing takes place at night. This is again a place where, if they encounter a worm, they just eat it. Which kind of makes sense for a burrowing fish; if it can't eat the worm then the worm is quite a burrowing obstacle.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Thanks for documenting this!

 

[VR28man]

An additional odd jawfish feeding observation: they apparently will eat pellets.

All the literature I consulted says that jawfish are planktonivorous. As in, they sit next to the water column and wait for pods, etc to come by. So far, I found this to be true.

The first exception was the bristle worms that I mentioned above.

And then earlier today, I threw in a sinking pellet type food for some of the nighttime scavengers. The pellet was taken up by the flow in the tank, floated by the jawfish’s burrow, and the jawfish happily ate the whole thing.

[eta: typos]

 

[code4]

I worry about my blue spotted jawfish getting enough food. So I took up turning off the pumps while the lights are off in the tank and very low in the room. Then I drop in a couple of small pieces of mastik in with him. He loves it. So does my hawkfish. And sometimes my regal and zoster still out compete him. Works best if I get in there before anyone else. I really like jawfish.

 

[Daimyo68]

Nice to know about the bristleworms.

My Blue Spotted Jawfish has eaten pellets since day 1.
Pellets
Mysis
Rods Food
Flakes
Frozen Angel Cubes

I don't think he has turned away anything yet

 

[Vin's Reef]

So bristleworms are harmless. Cause I have a ton in my frag tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

30+ years in hobby - new to me.
Arrow Crab is #1 on bristles

 

[Daimyo68]

Arrow crabs without a doubt, but man they grow too fast

30+ years in hobby - new to me.
Arrow Crab is #1 on bristles

 

[mredwin25]

My pearly jawfish loves pellets

 

[Nano man]

30+ years in hobby - new to me.
Arrow Crab is #1 on bristles

Mine never touched them!
Gave him back, ugly looking fellow!

 

[Philip Chin]

Nice. I never thought that they would do that.

 

[Oldsalt01]

30 years ago I had a Lawnmower Blenny I hand caught that just loved bristleworms, as long as they weren’t over 2” long. He never seemed to have a problem from eating them.

 

[BedrockIOMC]

An additional odd jawfish feeding observation: they apparently will eat pellets.

All the literature I consulted says that jawfish are planktonivorous. As in, they sit next to the water column and wait for pods, etc to come by. So far, I found this to be true.

The first exception was the bristle worms that I mentioned above.

And then earlier today, I threw in a sinking pellet type food for some of the nighttime scavengers. The pellet be taken up by the flow in the tank, floated by the jawfish’s burrow, and the jawfish happily ate the whole thing.

Maybe you just have "Mikey" of the jawfish world, LOL he'll eat anything put in front of him. LOL

 

[BedrockIOMC]

Coral banded shrimp would be the best to have and take them out. ;Penguin;Penguin;Pompus;Pompus

 

[Dennis Begley]

My tank just had it 2nd anniversary. I transferred everything from a long term smaller tank to a 90 gal. In no time I was amazed at the growing number of bristle worms. I took that as a good healthy sign except it also means I was overfeeding the tank. At this anniversary my bristle worm population appears to have stabilized. Yes they are everywhere in the rocks and some even come out during the daytime. Signs of life are good. I view them as part of my clean up crew. Ugly critters for sure. I do not reach into the thank without gloves. That is a good idea anyway but prefer not to tangle with my bristle worms.

 

[MartinWaite]

Coral banded shrimp would be the best to have and take them out. ;Penguin;Penguin;Pompus;Pompus

The only problem with them shrimps is that when they get big they will capture fish as and when they can and kill them I lost a few fish to one years ago but he was massive I've never seen a one as big before or since. All the fish it got were small gobies, blennies etc. I watched it one day over a hole where my Decorum gobies lived and it killed it as it tried to get past it then started to eat it and I swore that I'd never have another. Killers!