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Bristle/Fireworms Identification FAQs 2
Related FAQs: Polychaete ID 1,Polychaete
ID 3, Polychaete ID 4,
Polychaete ID 5, Bristleworm ID 6,
Bristleworm ID 7, Bristleworm ID 8,
FAQs: Worm Diversity FAQs,
FAQs 2, FAQs 3, &
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 ID FAQs by Group/Phylum:
Flatworm Identification ID,
Nemertean, Proboscis, Ribbon Worm ID,
Nematode, Roundworm ID,
Nematomorpha, Horsehair Worm ID,
Acanthocephalans, Thorny-headed Worm ID,
Tubeworm ID, Hirudineans, Leech ID,
Sipunculids, Peanut Worm ID, Echiuran
Worm ID, & Bristle/Fireworms 1,
Bristle/Fireworms 2, Bristle/Fireworms
3, Bristle/Fireworms 4,
Worm Identification, Polychaete
Behavior, Polychaete
Compatibility, Polychaete System,
Polychaete Selection, Polychaete
Feeding, Polychaete Disease,
Polychaete Reproduction, Related
Articles: Worms,
Polychaetes, Flatworms/Planaria,
What's worse than finding a whole live worm in your apple? | 
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Identify This if you can
Polychaete Id – need more info 10/8/07
<Hi Richard>
Just wondering if you could identify this worm, it
came out of a piece of coral that was dying. I broke it apart to get
the bad part or dying part out of the tank and keep the living part
in.
<Unfortunately, I need a close-up image of the head
especially, in order to see placement/number of antennae (if
present), eyes, and the mouth. Please see these sites for more info
re:
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchworms.html
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php >
Thank
you,
Richard.
<You’re most welcome. I just wish I could have
given you a definitive answer! –Lynn> | 
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Unknown Worm (A Cirratulid Polychaete I Believe) - 04/20/06
Bob,
<<EricR here>>
First off thanks again for the advice with my tank,
I've done a few extra water changes and everything seems to be running
perfectly fine. I mentioned in my last email that I was going to try to
get a few pictures of this worm I've found to maybe come to a better
conclusion as to its species. I think I might have seen it before when
reading the sites on your site, but I can't seem to find it
again. Either way here are 3 pictures of this awkward looking
worm. Looks to me like maybe he needs a good barber.
<<Mmm, your
comment is more intuitive than you probably realize. What you have here
looks to be a Cirratulid polychaete worm...commonly referred to as a
"Hair" worm...often confused with/misidentified as a "Spaghetti" worm (a
Terebellid polychaete).
What do you think?
<<A beneficial
detritivore...I'd keep it <grin> >>
Thanks again,
Anthony
<<Quite welcome, EricR>> |  |
Worm ID 6/10/06
Hey crew,
<John>
I have been
stalking this guy for about two months trying to get him out of my tank.
Is he just your regular bristle worm?
<One of many thousands of
species...>
The other bristle worms I have seen seem to be red and
purple in color, while this monster is yellow and orange. Also, the
"bristles" on the side seem to be different than on the other worms.
This guy was almost a foot long when fully extended
<Yikes... be
very careful when not-handling this specimen... use tongs, a net, not
your skin... as these podia bristles may be quite sharp, painful... Bob
Fenner>
Thanks!
John | 
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Worms in tank - 09/07/06
Howdy crew!<Hey Kandice, MacL here.> I
have a worm question- I tried to identify them myself, but forgive me if
the identification was obvious. <You have bristleworms in your tank.
Lots of FAQs here on them. They don't look like fireworms to me from the
pictures but I would consider getting a fish that eats them or pulling
them out of the tank with some type of tweezers. They can become a
problem.> I don't have any fish yet, just live rock. I think that they
are bristle worms, but they don't look as "feathery." They look like
aquatic centipedes to me! There are about 5 of them that I can count,
about an inch long, maybe 1.5 at the longest. They all have the same
basic structure but vary slightly in color: some are red, red and black,
and black and white. If the picture is not good I can try to pluck one
out of the tank, however if they are beneficial I would like to refrain
from doing so! Thank you! <I liked to keep some in my tank, honestly
because my puffers think they are a delicacy from heaven. Good luck,
MacL> | 
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What type of sea worm is this????? 8/11/06
Hi Bob,
<Koraine>
I just came upon your question and answer site when I was
looking up different types os sea worms. My son and I just got back
from Mexico and we caught lots of things. Octopus, stingrays, and lots
more, but it's the first time we caught this weird looking worm
thing. I read about fireworms, is this that or something else??
<Is
a type of errantiate polychaete... a bristleworm... would have felt like
fire had you grabbed it firmly by those lateral processes (notopodia,
parapodia...)>
It didn't' hurt us when we held it. We would love
to know. Please send e-mail with answer, plleassse!!
Koraine
<Yikes! Glad you didn't get stuck! Bob Fenner> |  
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Hitchhiker worm 10/16/05
Hi guys, I found a blue worm-like guy
working his way across one of my hard corals this morning. Managed to
fish him out to try to ID him. Thanks to your site, I guess he's some
form of errantiate, but I can't find any matches for his particular
description:
3-4cm long, blue colour, white tentacles on what I
assume is the head end, segmented body, each segment bearing a pair of
rather stumpy legs, moves by undulation, able to curl up into a ball, no
obvious bristles
I attach a couple of photos - the second of which
shows his belly. What do you think - friend or foe? If benign, I'd like
to pop him back in the tank ASAP as I doubt there's much to eat in the
Tupperware box he currently calls home! Many thanks for providing such a
great resource. jc
<Here is the response from Dr. Ron Shimek:
I'd need a better shot of the front end to be sure, but it appears to be
a phyllodocid polychaete. These are "active hunters" and generally eat
other worms. It has no "gripping" appendages. I suspect it was on the
trail of some other worm, which would have been dinner had it caught it.
It likely would not harm corals, or any other decorative livestock.
Basically, these animals are normal type of the worm fauna of a tank.
See these three of my articles:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.htm;
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.htm; and
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.htm. Cheers, Ron
<While Dr. Shimek finds such worms infinitely interesting and would be
horrified at the idea of not keeping it, I would suggest leaving it out
of the tank and flushing it. It will likely prey on other worms that are
beneficial to your tank. If you find this critter interesting as well,
you can certainly choose to keep it! Best Regards. AdamC.> | 
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Spiraling worm 3/14/06
Hello,
<Hi there>
Thanks
for your site, great info. Need critter ID: Worm type organism, which
harmlessly crawls around during the day eating detritus. Looks like a
white centipede with head that tapers down to the tail, with hundreds of
small legs running down the
length of the worm.
<Is an
errantiate polychaete (bristleworm) thus far...>
Also some of them
have a black line down the back some don't.
<Might be more than
one species...>
At night when the timer shuts the daylights down,
you can observe on occasion a worm spiraling through the tank fro one
side to the next. Figure the worm is just propelling itself to get from
one place to the next, in search of food. Figure it must be a harmless
hitchhiker until one turned into ten. Please if you could identify
these critters. Mini pictures of the worms attached.
Thanks,
Marc
<Need closer images, larger, bigger resolution to make out
mouth parts, eye number and arrangement, podia characteristics... to get
to family ID... Bob Fenner> |  
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Mysterious worm in my tank (ID wanted)
Hi there,
<Hello>
A weeks ago I noticed a black worm in my tank that was climbing on
my hammer coral fragment. It's body looked like a caterpillar's with
bristles covering it.
<Hence the name: "bristleworm">
It looked
more like a caterpillar than a slug or worm and was black with blue
dots on it.
<Neat>
While I was watching it, it took a bite out
my hammer coral and I knew I needed to get it out of there. Over there
next few weeks the little bugger eluded me until finally I decided to
pull the rock out (as a last resort). I left it out of the water for a
bit, in hopes of making the worm come out to search for water. After a
bit, I poured some water into its container and its head came out of a
hole. I went to remove it with a tweezers (thankfully, it was dead)
and came to find out that what I expected was maybe an inch or two long
was actually 7 inches long!!!
<A youngster!>
Attached is a
picture of the worm and though it's a little fuzzy,
<Man, I've got
to give up drinking cheap vino... This pic is way fuzzy to me>
hopefully you can see some of the detail on the head. I was also
wondering what type of worm it was and how it got into my tank?
<Mmm, in, on rock or other hard substrate... like a stony coral base>
I have added nothing new to the tank in at least 4 months, so I'm
curious as to how it grew without me knowing? Thanks for any help you
can give!
Melissa
<Take a gander at our Worm ID files posted on
WWM... many, many of these worms on this planet. Bob Fenner> | 
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Weird Spiky Alien Things! (4/22/04)
I found this thing tonight
after doing a good cleaning in my tank and re-organizing some of the
live rock. It has two or three long antenna/tentacles and two or three
small antenna/tentacles. It also has four mandibles that it extends when
it's eating. Three of them can be seen in the picture, they are the
black things on the end. It's flat and I've seen it extend about 2 - 2.5
inches out of the rock. He's really fast when spooked. I found two small
black & white striped snake-star starfish a few days ago and was
wondering if this thing is going to eat them. The rock was the first and
only piece introduced. It has been in there for well over a month so I
figure if things were going to go wrong for the starfish it should have
probably already happened. <From your description, and confirmed by the
picture, it's definitely a bristle worm (Neanthes sp.). They're
detritivores that can attain several inches. Often despised because they
have been known to eat weakened fish and certain corals, the smaller
ones are actually excellent detritivores. I wouldn't worry about them
unless you see several large specimens (5+ inches) and these can be
removed with bristle worm traps>
Thanks for your help and time, <Not
a problem>
-Jim & Shawna Hensley <M. Maddox> | 
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