Small bristle worm killed my Midas blenny

[ericrod24]

Today I found my 4” Midas blenny with his face stuck into a hole in the rock. After waiting several minutes he looked stressed so I moved the rock and the blenny came out. He sat on the bottom of tank for about 5 minutes and died. I checked it and found small thin spines in his face. I removed the rock and sure enough several small bristle worms all inside the rock. I’m really bummed losing this fish and don’t want to lose another. Ideas on how to get rid of them. Arrow crab, six line wrasse, or trap?

 

[mamareef]

This is so sad! I’m really sorry about your Midas blenny

 

[Tired]

Pics of the bristleworms?

Normal bristleworm bristles aren't anywhere near lethal to fish. They're an irritant. Certainly not lethal that fast. Unless you have some sort of uber-venomous worms, I'd expect that he was already in bad shape when he put his face in there. Sometimes fish that are dying will move in quick jerks and darts, which could explain what he was doing with his face in a hole next to bristleworms.

 

[Goaway]

Something was wrong with the midas already. My firefish gobies sleep with large, I mean 6+ inch bristle worms and my female goby has lost an eye to fish aggression. The worms did nothing to her. She has lost use of her eye and has recovered. The worms actually moved to a new rock.
My point is, she wasn't in fatal or sick condition, so they didn't care.

Tldr; most bristleworms don't injure healthy fish. I'm sorry for your loss.

If you have fireworms, they need to go. Bait them out with food and use tongs to grab them

 

[alton]

Longnose Hawkfish or possibly a purple pseudochromis?