lightning fast white/milky looking worm

[ryanwongg]

I've searched for what seems like forever now. I have 2-3 worms (that I know of) that only come out during light off conditions. They look like a spionid worm except I only see 1 individual worm moving independently from others. The other night I was feeding my mushroom in the dark and let it close up around the pellet. When I checked back on the mushroom, I saw this milky looking white worm stretched out maybe 1.5 inches or so digging into my mushroom's mouth trying to pull the pellet out.

Last night after lights out, I put a bristle worm trap in the tank and set it on the rock where the mushrooms reside. After a couple minutes I noticed two of these thin (fishing line thin) reaching for the pellets in the middle of the bristle worm trap tube. I noticed they couldn't reach the pellets as I believe they always keep the other end of their body retracted in a hole. When you shine a light at them, they are LIGHTNING fast in retracting their full 1-1.5 inches back into the hole. Again, I don't think they are spionid worms due to the fact that they are singular and also there aren't any tubes in sight.

Pictures are out of the question as I can only lure them out in the dark. As for as appearance, they look smooth (no bristles) and have a black looking head.

Hoping someone can shed some light on what im dealing with here!

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[ImGood]

I've been watching your post since about a half hour after you posted, looking for info on I believe the same thing.i saw 1 stretched just out on the glass just above the sand . Never saw one before,& by the time my camera was functioning, it vanished.like you,I cannot find any info about it.still searching.

 

[ryanwongg]

it keeps stealing food from my shrooms! these worms are even bold enough to even dig into the shrooms mouth even after the shroom has lifted it's skirt around it's mouth. Im going to try the bristle worm trap again over the weekend. If I can capture one, I'll whip out the macro and show yall I'm not crazy. I haven't seen this worm on any of the common critters identification threads.

 

[ImGood]

Have you got feather duster? Or cocoa worms? I see them in a rock that did gave dusters on it, but I'm unfamiliar with the life cycle is it possible that is what they are?

 

[ryanwongg]

I actually got a good video and picture of it! I'll upload whichever is easier. In the end, I don't think this will be a problem for me anymore. I ended up taking out the rock and used a pipet to drip hydrogen peroxide in all the nooks and crannies, including right up the base of the mushrooms. I think a total of 3 worms came scurrying/melting out. Very satisfied with the end result as the shrooms looked fine within a couple hours. Last couple of nights I haven't seen the worms coming from the rock.

 

[ryanwongg]

 

[ImGood]

That looks different than what I've seen, which I believe are spaghetti worms.the one in the pic reminds me of a centepied , it appears to have many tiny feet.

 

[Roboson]

@Lionfish Lair

 

[NanaReefer]

Freaking awesome! [emoji15]

 

[Lionfish Lair]

That looks like a Syllidae. Let me see if I can find something specific in my catalog.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I see syllids with that body pattern, but I don't remember ever seeing them with a white head like that. I have seen Dorvilleidae with white heads, but they're herbivores and I don't know if they would jack a pellet.

 

[ryanwongg]

I told y'all I couldn't find an ID on any of the pest databases

 

[ryanwongg]

That looks like a Syllidae. Let me see if I can find something specific in my catalog.

a quick google image search of a Syllidae makes me believe this is NOT the worms I had. Again, these have been dealt with by using some hydrogen peroxide (they came out quick!!). They no longer reside in the tank (that I know of) but y'all are welcome to continue discussing what I had

 

[ryanwongg]

BUMP. I found another one living in the base of my acan skeleton. It reaches out almost an inch long just to steal food. It also to irritates/retracts my acan as it slithers around touching the flesh of the polyp.

Anyone know what this is? I cant resort to hydrogen peroxide on my acans..

 

[ryanwongg]

BUMP. what are my options? super gluing any opening portions of the acan skeleton base?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I've heard people complaining of critters living between corals and a frag plug. Is yours on a plug?

 

[nemo1017]

Just out of curiosity, have you tried a Bayer dip? I have dipped many lps in it before and haven't lost any. I did however rinse the hell out of them with tank water. If you go this route I advise to start with a very low concentration to see how the acan responds.

 

[Babygecko1233]

It looks like a baby peanut worm

 

[ryanwongg]

I've heard people complaining of critters living between corals and a frag plug. Is yours on a plug?

Yes, it's on a frag plug. Unfortunately in this case, removing the plug would do nothing though as the 3 worms I've seen (3 separate plugs) - they live in the base of the acan skeleton. I also want to stay away from cutting the polyps as they are quite pricy and small.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried a Bayer dip? I have dipped many lps in it before and haven't lost any. I did however rinse the hell out of them with tank water. If you go this route I advise to start with a very low concentration to see how the acan responds.

I've only tried coral RX and a light lugols iodine solution. Going to pick up some Bayer tonight... worth a shot, thanks for the suggestion!

It looks like a baby peanut worm

It has the same body shape but I'm thinking they are different. These worms (used to also deal with this same worm stealing from my mushrooms) stay really small and are lightning quick to retract when scared... such an annoying bugger to deal with since they keep stealing my coral food...