Vermetid or worm?

[Crofty]

Saw a 1 inch slime thread leading back to this curious worm looking thing peaking out from under a zoa frag. Could this be the head of a vermetid? Do they poke out of their tube like this ever? The frag is glued down so I cant look under it to see if there's a tube. It seems fixed at this location but sways back and forth counter to the current.

Or maybe it is actually a worm of some kind?

It only protrudes a few mm out from under the frag and its about 0.5 mm in diameter. Its white at the head but fades to a more tan color further back. The pic is the best I could get zooming in with my phone, and unfortunately the resolution gets cut down in posting.

Would appreciate any thoughts since I'm new enough to never have seen a vermetid in person (or really any hitchhikers). Thanks!

 

[Jason Scalise]

hard to say for sure on the pic provide but looks like vermetid. if concerned, you could remove with flat head screwdriver at the base. needle the base. use pliers on the base. etc.

if the only one you see, probably worth doing so.
that said many people have also had them with little or no ill effects. but that has not been universally true for everyone as you probably know.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Spionid probably.

 

[Crofty]

Spionid probably.

Thanks for the responses. Ended up removing the frag as suggested and found a little nest of small light brown worms. Unfortunately couldn't get a good pic of them and they got wrecked when I tried to scrape them off. Whatever they were they spun out some kind of slime that the zoa's didn't seem to like. Zoas hadnt been opening well in days.

Sad I couldn't get a better look at the worms. Thinking I need to get some kind of lighted magnifying glass setup for future encounters!!