What worm is this?

[Sploot]

Anyone happen to know the ID of this worm? Not sure whether is has legs, but it has a ribbed back.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I don't think the photos are clear enough for a solid ID (worm ID is hard), but it's definitely a polychaete of some kind.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Bristleworm

 

[DiloHunter]

Looks like a bristleworm. Hard to tell though.

 

[Sploot]

Thanks for the help/replies!

 

[tbrown]

+1 looks like a bristleworm but as previously mentioned the picture is hard to be 100%.

 

[Wolperthinger]

This doesn't look like a bristle worm. It looks more like oenone fulgida, and they are BAD. You can test this by feeding a meaty food like blood worms and see if it goes crazy for them. Also, if you have snails that mysteriously disappear that is another good indication that these are oenone fulgida.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

This doesn't look like a bristle worm. It looks more like oenone fulgida, and they are BAD. You can test this by feeding a meaty food like blood worms and see if it goes crazy for them. Also, if you have snails that mysteriously disappear that is another good indication that these are oenone fulgida.

How are you the first person I've ever seen mention this worm? I have only heard discussion of bristle worms and fire worms although there are ten thousand species in the class polychaete. I just looked it up and Oenone fulgida very well may be what I have been battling.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

This doesn't look like a bristle worm. It looks more like oenone fulgida, and they are BAD. You can test this by feeding a meaty food like blood worms and see if it goes crazy for them. Also, if you have snails that mysteriously disappear that is another good indication that these are oenone fulgida.

How are you the first person I've ever seen mention this worm? I have only heard discussion of bristle worms and fire worms although there are ten thousand species in the class polychaete. I just looked it up and Oenone fulgida very well may be what I have been battling.

Just for clarification here, bristle worm (while generally used in the hobby to mean a harmless polychaete worm) is actually a generic term for all polychaete worms (the bristles of the worm being called chaetae; polychaete basically = multiple chaetae). Oenone fulgida is a eunicid polychaete. The infamous bobbit worm is also a eunicid polychaete. However, not all eunicid polychaetes are predatory/bad.

If you’re worried about a “bristleworm” in your tank, then I’d try baiting it with snails and/or clams or similar and seeing if it is super fast to strike (like the predatory bobbit worm and company) or if they’re more laid back in approaching the potential prey. If it strikes quickly or takes live prey, you should probably remove it from your tank.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

Just for clarification here, bristle worm (while generally used in the hobby to mean a harmless polychaete worm) is actually a generic term for all polychaete worms (the bristles of the worm being called chaetae; polychaete basically = multiple chaetae). Oenone fulgida is a eunicid polychaete. The infamous bobbit worm is also a eunicid polychaete. However, not all eunicid polychaetes are predatory/bad.

If you’re worried about a “bristleworm” in your tank, then I’d try baiting it with snails and/or clams or similar and seeing if it is super fast to strike (like the predatory bobbit worm and company) or if they’re more laid back in approaching the potential prey. If it strikes quickly or takes live prey, you should probably remove it from your tank.

Most of what I have would be classified as the average every day bristle worm. I have had a few monsters that may or may not have been bristle worms or oenone fulgida. What I do know is that they irritate my corals and my snails do not last very long despite a constant smorgasbord of algae. And one night as I was shining a light in the tank, I caught a glimpse of a worm rocketing across the back of the tank in an odd motion that looked like a mutant zombie caterpillar that was hopped up on half a dozen types of amphetamines. I'm pretty sure that same worm has been stealing beer from my garage fridge.

 

[Hadla]

How are you the first person I've ever seen mention this worm? I have only heard discussion of bristle worms and fire worms although there are ten thousand species in the class polychaete. I just looked it up and Oenone fulgida very well may be what I have been battling.

Haha really? I’ve posted about them since I found out about their existence in my biocube about 5 years ago!