What type of worm is this beast?

[Milen]

Hello reefers. Since few nights I'm trying to make a good photo or a video of a worm that seems not to be from the bristle family, hiding in one of my zoa frag. Can you help identify? I've managed to make a video. It's about 1 inch long and very careful when going out of the hiding spot.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hello reefers. Since few nights I'm trying to make a good photo or a video of a worm that seems not to be from the bristle family, hiding in one of my zoa frag. Can you help identify? I've managed to make a video. It's about 1 inch long and very careful when going out of the hiding spot.

The video didn't attach - videos can struggle on the forum here; most people upload them to a site like YouTube and then link them here.

 

[Milen]

The video didn't attach - videos can struggle on the forum here; most people upload them to a site like YouTube and then link them here.

Thanks, mate. I've indeed struggled to upload the video l. Here is the YouTube link

 

[Mechano]

Hello reefers. Since few nights I'm trying to make a good photo or a video of a worm that seems not to be from the bristle family, hiding in one of my zoa frag. Can you help identify? I've managed to make a video. It's about 1 inch long and very careful when going out of the hiding spot.

I am not usually one to condemn many creatures like bristle worms or asterina, but the worm you have here looks predatory (not saying it’s a bobbit worm or not as I’m not 100%) but when it doubt, take it out.

I would definitely be doing it in this case for sure to be safe until someone on here IDs this.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thanks, mate. I've indeed struggled to upload the video l. Here is the YouTube link

That's a Eunicid worm of some variety (Edit: to clarify as mentioned in the bottom quote and by several other commenters - this worm is likely a predator that you don't want in your display tank; it could be a cool sump monster though):

Eunicids, on the other hand, can be either harmless/beneficial, mildly risky (think opportunistic predators eating things like snails, small crustaceans, fish larvae, etc. when starved or when the prey is weak enough), or outright predatory. Some are predators while others are literally herbivores (fun fact, even some of the predators - such as the infamous bobbit worm - will still take algae when given the chance).

Looks like it has a white “collar” on it to me, so Eunice sp. or Leodice sp. would be my guess at present:

the white collars are found on a few different Eunicid worms (I know a few Eunice spp. and Leodice spp. for sure). These ones tend to be more predatory.

 

[TehBrainz]

That sucker is full on hunting. Remove it!

 

[Milen]

I am not usually one to condemn many creatures like bristle worms or asterina, but the worm you have here looks predatory (not saying it’s a bobbit worm or not as I’m not 100%) but when it doubt, take it out.

I would definitely be doing it in this case for sure to be safe until someone on here IDs this.

I've tried to catch him with the tweezers, but no luck, he is very cautious. Any idea how to get him out?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've tried to catch him with the tweezers, but no luck, he is very cautious. Any idea how to get him out?

A lot of people try traps with mixed success on these; if you can remove the rock it's on, you may be able to try and drive it out or kill it with something like hypersaline water, freshwater, vinegar, etc.; or you can try to suction it out (like with a turkey baster or shop vac or something).

No guarantees on any of these methods, though, and you'll want to be careful working around the zoas there.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Maybe you can glue him in?

 

[Alexraptor]

Given how much its skin shimmers and those stripes on the antannae, I'd say thats a bona fide bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois). Which means it has the potential to become massive.

I had a small Eunice sp. once, but the only way I got it out was by removing the whole rock it was contained in. Tricky part is verifying it's actually inside the rock, since they can grow quite long and potentially stretch accross multiple rocks.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Given how much its skin shimmers and those stripes on the antannae, I'd say thats a bona fide bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois). Which means it has the potential to become massive.

I'd guess it's likely not a bobbit, as those tend to burrow in the sand) - there are a number of Eunice spp. and Leodice spp. that look like this (i.e. that look similar to the bobbit, Eunice aphroditois).

The handful of species that I've looked at that look like this are probably not ones that you'd want in the tank though.

Leodice valens and Leodice torquata are two examples that are fairly easy to find pics of.

 

[JonoH]

Thanks, mate. I've indeed struggled to upload the video l. Here is the YouTube link

Looks like a bobbit worm to me!

I had one in my old tank, looked a similar size - when i actually got it out it was close to 250mm long!

 

[JonoH]

Edit - should also add, the only way i got mine out was to remove the rock and break it apart.

I tried traps and nothing would work.

 

[KrisReef]

Great video of an evil predator.
I hope you can remove it without too much disruption to the display.

 

[JoJosReef]

Remove the rock. You'll never get it out with tongs or traps. Been there, tried that a million ways. They rarely leave their holes completely, thus making traps ineffective, retract lightning fast making manual capture challenging, and have the ability to regenerate their body parts, even their head, so if it breaks in half you're in no better shape.

The best I've managed is feeding flake food at night, using a red flashlight and tongs and grabbing one while it was snatching flake food.

Did I capture it? No, I did not. The worm turned around and started repeatedly striking my tongs which startled me, made me release pressure and lose the Eunice worm.

I've also tried removing their rocks (which had corals on them) and using heated water or soda water to "flush" them out. No luck, just angry corals. Ended up chucking theor rocks during a tank transfer and removing the corals

"Take out the rock" is the best advice I can give.

 

[Milen]

Thanks a lot to all! Today i'll perform the removal of the zoa frag and try to break it apart. I'll work on open air and with face&hand protection to avoid potential polytoxin from the zoa... let's see the outcome.

 

[Solo McReefer]

Nightmare Fuel

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Thanks a lot to all! Today i'll perform the removal of the zoa frag and try to break it apart. I'll work on open air and with face&hand protection to avoid potential polytoxin from the zoa... let's see the outcome.

Please provide pictures or video of the procedure.

 

[DED65]

Remove the rock. You'll never get it out with tongs or traps. Been there, tried that a million ways. They rarely leave their holes completely, thus making traps ineffective, retract lightning fast making manual capture challenging, and have the ability to regenerate their body parts, even their head, so if it breaks in half you're in no better shape.

The best I've managed is feeding flake food at night, using a red flashlight and tongs and grabbing one while it was snatching flake food.

Did I capture it? No, I did not. The worm turned around and started repeatedly striking my tongs which startled me, made me release pressure and lose the Eunice worm.

I've also tried removing their rocks (which had corals on them) and using heated water or soda water to "flush" them out. No luck, just angry corals. Ended up chucking theor rocks during a tank transfer and removing the corals

"Take out the rock" is the best advice I can give.

I completely agree. I had one in the sand bed and I tried everything to get that sucker out. He would go into the trap, eat the food and back out. He never left the burrow completely. Some people have had luck by removing the rock and injecting club soda in the hole, some have not. I ended up breaking everything down. Your best bet is to remove the rock! Glueing the hole may work, but if he has another escape route, he may just move.

 

[Peter Houde]

Bad news worm. Hidden jaws. I got one in a recent shipment of macroalgae. It didn't even get as far as my QT. Easier to catch than from rock, but still a very fast, writhing, viscous creature. I can't imagine trying to get one out of rock. Of course you could just wait until it's eaten all your fish and maxed out at several feet. It might be easier to grab then, though it might grab you instead.