Worm ID, please!?

[csreed]

Hi everyone,

I've been tracking a monster worm in my tank ever since I acquired the tank over a year ago. It's nocturnal, very fast, & I would see it everywhere in my 200 gal tank (i.e.: didn't seem to have a specific tunnel/hidey- hole). It looked & moved like an iridescent centipede - segmented with legs, 2 bright reflective eyes, no prominent mouthparts. I have, at last, captured the beast... Only to discover a second one! Ewwwww. Anyway, caught that one too. These are pictures of the smaller one, who measures somewhere around 18" to 2 feet when hanging from my forceps. Interestingly, they bleed red. I still can't see mouthparts - very small head. Creepy, creepy things. Can anyone tell me what they are??

 

[csreed]

Still trying to load pics...

 

[csreed]

 

[csreed]

 

[Lionfish Lair]

There's two worms that can look pretty similar, it's the Lysarete genus and the Oenone. I'm leaning towards it being a Lysarete, as I thought the Oenone had obvious eyespots, but I can't be sure on that. Time to research!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

And he can climb out of that container, BTW. So, be careful where you put it. LOL!

 

[csreed]

Yaaaaa! I don't even want to THINK of those things crawling out!! Fortunately, it was just in that shallow dish long enough for some ID photos & then it took the big, swirly swim. So far I'm not turning up much info beyond taxonomy. Do you have a good reference to point me to? Scavenger? Venomous? My next post will be "Pictorial guide to why I will ALWAYS wear gloves when working in my tank!"

 

[Lionfish Lair]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You threw it out already!! I am soo sad.

They are predators on snails and I believe clams. They needed to come out for sure.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

May I take your pictures to a worm expert?

 

[csreed]

Absolutely you may take the photos. I've been stalking it & trying to identify it for over a year. Even took all of my rock work apart once before, hunting for it without success. (Which is how I caught them both this time.). I kept it for a number of hours in case anyone wanted different photos, but sadly you & I did not connect until I'd gotten rid of it. (After a certain point it was just too creepy to have lurking in a bucket in my living room.) I felt a little guilty killing the first one, but after the "horror" of finding a second one I didn't feel so bad I'm hoping there aren't any more in the tank, & would like to know something about their reproduction.

I've been blaming my hermits all this time for the complete annihilation of all of my snails... Really glad I didn't spring for a clam, yet. I was waiting until I was sure the tank was properly adjusted before doing so - wouldn't that have been sad!

 

[csreed]

By the way, although you couldn't see them when it was out of the water, in my tank at night it had very distinct green "eyes." As I said, it was lightning fast so never got a good look at the head - just an eye flash & gone.

 

[csreed]

Could that be where my Elysia disappeared to as well?

 

[csreed]

Sorry - repeat post

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Elysia tend to disappear over time, so it's hard to say with that one. There's a read I normally point to out there, but I kind of think I found an inconsistency in it, so I want to have it clarified before I post it.

The presence of notable eyes might sway my vote.

It sucks you had it and I'm glad you got it out, but that's so cool.

 

[csreed]

Thanks for all the info so far!

I'm sad about the Elysia. I read up before I got them & I have lots & lots of live rock for them to munch algae on, but I've lost 2 Guess I read the wrong stuff. I've even tried adding seaweed strips for them to make sure they're fat & happy, but my last one is looking thinner. If I can't blame it on the killer worms, I won't be replacing the Elysia (although they were soooo cool...)

I sure do appreciate the voice of experience & knowledge!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Oh, you mean the E. crispata! I jumped right to the hitchhiker varieties. The lettuce nudis definitely have a better outcome with the right food and environment. When they get back to me, I'll ask if there was any chance the worm killed it.

 

[csreed]

Argh!! It's night time, & I just spotted two more of these miserable things!! Any advice on their habits to help me catch & kill them would be much appreciated. It's been a 2-day marathon of taking the rock work apart & putting it back together again. Finally got the last coral re-glued... How long do these things live, anyway? Can I starve them out?

 

[Anthony Wood]

That thing is what nightmares are made of!