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FAQs about Worms, Vermiform Animals Identification 13
Related FAQs: Worm IDs 1,
Worm IDs 2, Worm IDs 3,
Worm IDs 4, Worm IDs 5,
Worm IDs 6, Worm IDs 7,
Worm IDs 8, Worm IDs 9,
Worm IDs 10, Worm ID 11, Worm ID 12,
Worm ID 14, Worm
ID 15, &
Polychaete Identification, Flatworm
Identification, Invertebrate
Identification, Worms 1,
Worms 2, Worms 3,
Flatworms/Planaria,
Fire/Bristleworms, FAQs on: Worm Behavior,
Worm Compatibility, Worm Selection,
Worm Systems, Worm Feeding,
Worm Disease, Worm Reproduction,
Related Articles: Worms,
Featherduster Worms, |
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Nudi/Worm ID? 10/6/08
Hello Everyone at WWM!
<Art>
Yet
again I find that I need some advice, or, at least an ID of some sort...
A few days ago I found this creature crawling around my 55 Gallon Reef
Tank. I looked up the worm FAQ and had no luck. Whatever this thing is,
it seems to be sensitive to light. If I have the lights off and shine a
light on it, it quickly retracts into wherever it is anchored to.
Another thing is, I've never seen it in it's entirety. So it could be a
few inches long, or ...? The top of it has several "openings"
<"Polyplacophora">
I guess you could call them, but I haven't been
able to keep it in the open long enough to see if they actually open.
It's kinda freaking me out. I was thinking a Nudibranch of some sort,
but it looks like nothing in your 6 or so Nudibranch ID pages. Please
help! I appreciate any info you can give me!
-Art Perez
<Is a
Chiton... not harmful. Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/chitonidf.htm
Bob Fenner> |   |
Worm or what? 10/1/08
This thing is huge (silver
dollar size), and I think it's moving relatively fast. It looks to me
like a giant flat worm.
<To me as well. Perhaps a Pseudoceros sp.>
I guess it can't reproduce and I guess it might be the reason I have not
had luck with shrimp in this tank and my serpent stars are being eaten
slowly.
<Mmm, doubtful it is this Platyhelminth...>
That's a whole
lot of guessing so maybe I'll just attach a picture and see what the
experts think.
Thanks,
As always love this site,
Jesse
<Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/flatworms.htm
the linked files
above. Bob Fenner> |
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Question about unknown worm -09/02/08
Hi.
I've
searched the entire internet by now i think. I spent a couple of hours
at least, and i haven't managed to find an answer to my question. I
found your page and hoped that you could help.
I went on a vacation
to Greece this summer and one of the days we had literally hundreds of
these scary looking worms crawling the rocky bottom of the harbour.
The locals referred to them as "Sea caterpillars" (translated from
Greek).
Some said they were poisonous, others not.
<They are what
we in the aquarium hobby call "Bristleworms"-- though this is a vague
designation given to any number of different species of similar looking
scavenging worms with stinging "bristles." The bristles can hurt you if
you handle touch them with your bare hands (depending on the worm, how
sensitive you are, and how much contact you have with it, the pain can
vary from intense to minor irritation).>
I attached a picture of the
worm.
What was this?
I hoped you perhaps could email me the
answer, or at least tell me when and where the answer is posted.
<Please see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polychaetes.htm>
Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it!
Regards Morten from
Norway
<Best,
Sara M.>
Unidentified.. um.. worm? 08/15/2008
Hi, we are having a very
hard time figuring out what this organism is in our 55-gal marine reef
tank. I have spent hours on your site searching, but it's hard to know
even what to search for. On one of the live rocks there was this spider
web-looking flossy strings (not legs) floating in the water off the
rock.
<Oooh, a clue>
Sometimes it would be there and sometimes it
wouldn't be, and different lengths from 0 to over 6". Then I saw its
source finally - something (maybe a worm of some kind?)
<Likely so>
that is definitely a little living thing sort of chews or eats the floss
back in and then sends it back out, assumingly to catch more "food." The
thing is tiny, its "head" being about 2mm in diameter and is down in a
hole in the rock, never comes out, so I don't know how long it may be.
It is dark in color, like black and brown and seems to have a hairy
head, but is very hard to see and properly describe. Does this method of
filter-feeding sound like any animal you know of?
If so, is it
dangerous to anything (it doesn't seem to be a threat to anything at
all)? Thanks very very much. ~ C & R
<... see the Net, WWM re
"spaghetti or Medusa worms". Bob Fenner>
What Is This Worm? A Nemertean! 7/28/08
<Hi there, Wendy.>
Can you identify this animal?
<Yes, it’s a beautiful little
Nemertean (Phylum Nemertea, likely a species in the genus
Notospermus), aka a Ribbon worm. Please see this link for more
information/photos regarding:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ribnwrmidfaqs.htm>
Fully stretched out
it was about 4-5' long (I tore it apart accidentally when I pulled
it out of the rock that it was in)
<Woops!>
Please help.
Thanks, Wendy
<No worries, you should be good to go! Take care,
-Lynn> | 
Re: What Is This Worm? A Nemertean! 7/28/08
<Hello again,
Wendy!>
Thank you so much for your help.
<You’re very
welcome.>
I looked through this link it seems that it will be
okay to keep it in my tank. But I would like to know what it
eats. I have searched several areas and can't seem to find what
it eats.
<Small invertebrates, likely amphipods and such
would be my guess. Nemerteans are predators and scavengers, and
although some varieties can get very long indeed, the ones we
usually run across (such as yours) seem to cause no significant
negative impact on the livestock within the particular system.>
Thanks again
Wendy
<It was my pleasure. Take care, -Lynn> |
What’s in the tank? Hair or Spaghetti worm – 7/16/08
Hello
all!
<Hi Kathy!>
Once again I am in need of a question
answered... I have a 55 gallon saltwater tank. In January I
purchased 65lbs of live rock. For the last 7 months I have been
totally fascinated with the little creatures that are emerging.
<It’s the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it!>
Yesterday I
noticed what looked to me like long pieces of hair on the bottom,
across the crushed coral substrate. I have long black hair so I
thought some of it had gotten in the tank...but when I looked closer
it was thread-like, dark and light alternating along the "thread"
and it was moving!! Then I notice 3 or 4 more! All seemed to be
stretching out from under a piece of the LR...and this morning when
I fed the fish, these "threads" seemed to attach to the blood worms
and mysis shrimp I had put in. They stretch out approximately 6 to 8
inches... in different directions. I've spent most of the morning
reading and trying to identify, but I can't wait. My eyes are blurry
and I have to know, "What's in my tank?" Can you give me a clue as
to what this is so that I can begin, in a logical place, to look on
the website, to research this little creature?
<It sounds a lot
like a harmless/beneficial Hair worm/Cirratulid (Family
Cirratulidae), or possibly a Spaghetti worm/Terebellid (Family
Terebellidae). Both are deposit/detritus feeders, as well as
scavengers that make nice additions to a system. For more
information and photos, please see the following links:
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic34114-11-3.aspx (last post on the
page)
See the Query “Red worms with black Rings? 7/8/07” at this
WWM link: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/wormidfaq10.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/rs/index.php >
OBTW I
love, love, love, your website!
<Thank you, thank you, thank
you!>
So much so that some days it's hard to do my work...mind
and body keep drifting back to the PC :)
<Heheee! I know the
feeling!>
Thanks so much, tootles, ~Kathy
<You’re very
welcome, Kathy. Take care, -Lynn>
Re: What’s in the tank? Hair or Spaghetti worm – 7/17/08
<Hi
Kathy>
Well...creepy looking things.. but, I will keep them
around, the more I watch them the more fascinating they are!
<Indeed they are!>
(I found a couple more :) ) thanks again!
Tootles, ~Kathy
<It was a pleasure! Take care, -Lynn> |
Unidentified worm
6/24/08
Hello and thanks for your help in advance. I have a worm I found in
my 46 gal. reef. It is 3/4 " long. It may be a Hawaiian feather
duster worm that lost its crown two days ago.
<Yes>
It was
stressed due to algae buildup I believe. This worm had a bite taken
out of it - it looks like.
<Yes... this is some "middle section">
My cherub angel has been hanging around the area I found the worm.
<Not from this... something larger>
(I found the worm in an
oyster shell with a zoo colony). I also just got two new frags at an
exchange on Saturday. Briarium was closest to the worm. The second
picture is the underside of the worm. Any ideas? Thanks so much!
Adina
<Is part of an Errantiate Polychaete... see WWM, elsewhere
re. Bob Fenner> | 
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Swimming Worm ID: Epitoke - 6/2/08
Hi Crew!
<Hi Jen!>
Thanks for all of your help.
<It’s our pleasure.>
My nano reef
seems to be coming along pretty well thanks to you guys!
<Yay!>
Just an ID question for you today. I was relaxing, having breakfast,
staring at my tank calmly enjoying my morning and admiring the new Xenia
I brought home yesterday... when all of a sudden this white THING comes
shooting up out of the rock and starts zipping around all over the tank.
<Heheeee! I had a run in with one of these a few years back. It’s a real
eye opener, isn’t it!>
I mean clearly free swimming and really fast.
<Yep. It’s a rapid and distinctive shimmying/corkscrew motion that’s
interrupted with brief periods of inactivity.>
It's about an inch and
a half long. I got lucky and managed to catch it and take some pictures.
<Appreciate it!>
On closer inspection it's clearly some type of worm,
<Yes, it’s an errant Polychaete of some sort - in a reproductive phase.>
..segmented and with two very prominent eyes. It has two distinct
sections, a sort of head/body section and a sort of tail section. It
swims with an eel like motion, with the hair-like things rippling along
the side of the tail section.
<Good observations! What you’re seeing
is a harmless reproductive unit called an “epitoke” or a “swarmer”.
Polychaetes reproduce in a number of ways, but worms such as yours take
it to a whole other level. They change form, from what's originally a
bottom dwelling/crawling animal to a free-swimming version. One of these
changes involves the development of paddle-like structures, the
“hair-like things” you mentioned on the posterior end of the Epitoke.
These enable the worm to swim up into the water column and spawn. In
some species, the gamete filled posterior segment detaches and swims
away on its own to spawn while the anterior/head section returns to the
reef and eventually regenerates. At any rate, these epitokes rise up and
gather in great numbers, perhaps in response to a lunar or tide cycle,
and on cue release their gametes (eggs and sperm) into the currents.>
I've attached photos for your enjoyment (you can sort of see the
swimming motion in the second picture). Is this something to worry
about?
<Nope, not at all. For more information, please Google the
term “epitoke” or “epitoky” and see the FAQ’s/photos at this link re:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/wormidf11.htm
Also, here are a couple of
photos of an Epitoke I had in my tank for comparison. It had a very
similar looking segmented posterior section and is in the Family
Nereididae. Size-wise, it was a little over 4.5” long.
http://wetwebfotos.com/usermedia/high/0/2470_44.jpg
http://wetwebfotos.com/usermedia/high/0/2470_46.jpg >
Should I put it
back in the tank?
<I wouldn’t, not because it’s harmful, but because
you have a nano and the Epitoke is already out. The release of gametes
and possible decay of the worm/section of the worm would just add to the
bioload.>
I can't lie, it scared the heck out of me and I definitely
got the heebie jeebies!
<Well, if it makes you feel any better, I
had my face all the way up to the glass when I saw the one in my tank. I
jumped back and screamed like a little girl! :-D>
Thanks again!!
Jen
<You’re very welcome! Take care, -Lynn> | 
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Please help me ID this hitchhiker -Peanut worn ID
5/12/08
Hi Crew,
Thank for all for this great web
site. I am learning all I can to correct all the newbie mistakes I've
committed.
<cool>
Please see the attached photo. Can you identify
this hitchhiker?
<Yep... looks like a peanut worm. Please see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pnutwrmidfaqs.htm>
It actually looks more
like an eel than a worm. But it's too tiny (maybe 2 mm diameter) to be
anything other than a worm?! This is the second time I've seen it out
the live rock feeding. It's making a darting motion but I can't tell
what it is eating. My tank is 14G BioCube with 2 Damsels (peacefully
co-existing), various hermit crabs and snails, and variously beginner
polyps.
Thanks for your help!
Evan
<De nada,
Sara M.> |   |
Worm living in clam... Vermetid living on Tridacnid 5/4/08
Hey
guys,
<Tom>
First, i
<... I>
just wanted to say i love this
website. I use it to research everything i see going on in my tank. It's
always been extremely helpful.
Unfortunately, i couldn't find the
answer to this and am hoping someone can help.
<I'll try>
I just
purchased what i was told to be a Tridacna Clam a few hours ago.
<Is>
When i got it home, about an hour after i placed the clam in my tank, I
noticed a worm coming out of the clam.
<I see... a Vermetid snail on
the outside... end of the shell... is this what you're referring to?>
I read that there are worms that can burrow it's way in, but the reason
i thought this is a different situation is that it looks as if the hole
that it enters is actually a hole that is part of the clam. It's as if
it's hole is a tunnel, and you can see it running down the clam. In the
picture, all you can see is the top of it's head and antennae,
everything below is actually part of the clam, not the worm.
Can
someone help? Is this normal, is it a clam that should quickly be
quarantined and then returned to the LFS?
Thank you so much for your
help!!!
Tom.
<Is a tubiculous snail... not to worry... not
destructive, deleterious... And even very interesting... See the family
name on the Net, WWM... Bob Fenner> |
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