Bristleworms...Just Doing Their Job - 10/10/06
Can anyone identify this nasty looking little worm?
<<Appears to be a species of common bristleworm...a polychaete worm>>
I put a couple of bivalves (Manila clams) into my marine aquarium and two days later found dozens of these had scoured out the interior of the clams.  They are present in my substrate reef tank.
<<Indeed, and doing what they do best...cleaning up "already dead" organisms.  The Manila clams are found in temperate to cold waters...they probably died shortly after being placed in your "tropical" reef tank and the worms, being beneficial detritivores, "cleaned them up">>
Worried about my pink tipped anemone.
<<No need...as long as you keep it healthy>>
Turbo snails have died but I have attributed that to my hermit crab population.
<<Yes...a much bigger threat to the biota in your tank than the worms...in my opinion>>
Sounds like these would be a nightmare to get rid of.
<<I wouldn't even try...in fact...I feed mine in my refugium purposely to keep the population up/reproducing/spewing eggs and sperm to the benefit of my other reef denizens>>
I could see benefits of them cleaning and stirring my crushed coral substrate but if they are more of a problem?
<<Not in my opinion...and populations can usually be controlled by the amount of available (excess) food in the system>>
Do they natural predators that I could but for control?
<<A few...though these can be/have their own problems>>
Help! Your professional advice please!
<<Relax and enjoy...  These worms are a beneficial, even necessary detritivore>>
Randy Stewart
<<Regards, Eric Russell>>

Annelid identification  7/15/06
Hey,
<Is for equines s'posedly>
I'm hoping that you can identify, or at least give me some clues as to where I could look to find out what a certain annelid is in my tank.
<... there are dozens of families, thousands of species>
The origin of all the rock and sand is from the gulf coast of Florida.
<Helps narrow down the possibilities>
The animals in question are around 1-2mm thick and of an unknown length as they live in tubes they construct from the substrate. They have three large, apparently sensory antennae on their heads, and two (or maybe more) small, pale appendages which they use to manipulate the substrate and drag sand to add to their tubes.
<Oh, tube-dwelling...>
They are overall a pale brownish orange colour, which is more brown on the head and first five segments, followed by a slightly longer section of
lighter orange, and then an unknown length (but longer than the previous sections) of a darker brown colour. They can retract into their tubes quite rapidly, often
while grasping a sizeable grain of sand. They don't appear to be the standard bristle worms, as they do not seem to have as many setae, and they have the antennae.
Any idea what these could be?
Thanks in advance!
-Van
<Good descriptions... and I did at one time sort and identify errantiates (for USD for a couple of years, for dredge-spoil analyses...), but I couldn't tell you even to what family this animal is. Perhaps try the Net... "Polychaetes of Florida"... or it's off to a large library (college) for a search. Bob Fenner>

Feather Dusters ? 8/15/05
Hello Crew
<Howdy>
  I wish that I could send you a picture of this one. I have an  overstocked 55g FOWLR. I am preparing a 180g  to transfer my fish over to.  The 55 has been going for about a year now. I have had 3 feather dusters in  there for about 6 months. I was adding 2 capfuls of live phytoplankton every  other day until the tank developed an algae bloom that I felt might be  feeding off of the phytoplankton. I realize that my high nitrates, 40 to 50mg/L  , and phosphates, 2.75mgL , aren't helping,
<Yikes, I'll say>
but I read that the algae could  be feeding off the food that I was adding for the worms.
<Might, not likely a factor though... you've really got to address your water quality>
     I added a 24 " hang-on refugium six weeks ago with  live rock, live sand, and red and green macro algae that a local fish store sold  me. The algae is full of all kinds of tiny critters that are multiplying like  rabbits.  My Foxface and tangs love the algae but I was wondering if these  small copepods or whatever are being eaten by the feather dusters.
<Very likely so>
   Back to the main question. I went on vaca
<A cow?>
for two weeks.  Someone fed the fish,  emptied the protein skimmer, and did a 10 % water  change while I was away. When returning, I noticed all the fish alive and well,  but 2 of the three worms are closed up and there are 4 small, about 1/2 "  tall reddish worms growing on a piece of rock . Their feathers appear to be  less uniform and spaced further apart than the real feather dusters. The stems  are  transparent.
Are these nuisance worms or "children" from the larger  worms ?
   And should I remove them ? Thanks for your  help.
<More likely the latter, and I'd leave them be, transfer them to the new system... now, about that water quality... Bob Fenner>

- Worm ID - Greetings, I have acquired a few new additions to my freshly started Salt tank. These are from The Keys in Fl. The brownish worm is approximately 3 inches in length, looks like he's a detritus eater the way he touches everything with his feelers/tentacles. Am I correct, and is he a reef safe guy?  <You are correct, it is a worm and appears to be a type of Medusa worm... feeds on small particles both in the water column and in the sand. Will likely not fare well in a new tank - would need a mature tank [1 year old or more] to thrive. Cheers, J -- >

Yellow worms ID - medusa/spaghetti 4/25/04  Hello,  <cheers>  I have a 125 Gal reef which I have had for about 5 years. Just over the last few months I have noticed these yellow worms like creatures. They remind me of almost anemone like. Most of the time they are buried under the sand or in my live rock with very thin tentacles sticking out. Taking pictures of them like that didn't come out very well so I waited until I could get a few with them stuck to the glass. If you could tell me what they are and if I need to get rid of them and how I would be very grateful. I tock these same pictures to the reef shop where I have bought all my live stock and he had no idea. I looked on the internet but not knowing what they were called didn't help much. Any info would be great. Thank You Chris Twining  <the pictures are clear enough of this unique animal my friend. Thank you. It is a harmless/helpful medusa worm (a true worm, not to be confused with the sea cucumber relative Synaptids of the same common name). Look at pages 170/171 of our new Reef Invertebrates book or online with the genera "Timarete" or "Loimia" for more information. Kindly, Anthony Calfo>