[GaryZ]

I just got my lights on and I'm seeing a bunch of stuff now. Good and bad. I saw a deadspot under the rocks that is getting no water movement. I also noticed a snail carcass in that area. At one point, a long wormlike thing was attached to the dead snail. I kept my on it for a few and it didn't move. It was coming out of the rock and into the worm. I blinked and it was gone, leaving an empty snail shell. Any ideas?

[CSeaSee]

Sounds like possibly some sort of fireworm or other polychaete... what were some physical features of it?

[Reefland]

I would venture a guess of a common bristleworm.

[zhenya]

Unless you had seen this worm attack a snail I would never think of it as an assasin. It may have been just cleaning up a dead carcass which I would consider a beneficial function and precise reason to have "bristle" worms in the tank. Do you have anything else in the tank that may like to snack on the live snails? Hermits, some other crabs( hitch hikers)?
Worms that prey on snails usually leave a heavy coat of mucous behind, after the attack and they are called Oenone fulgida.
Here's a good article to read about various worms, commonly found in aquaria, some are beneficial and some are predatory.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by GaryZ

Any ideas?

There are literally thousands of possibilities. Most, but not all, worms that we discover in our tanks are beneficial scavengers. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that you have one of the "bad guys." It is much more likely that you have a beneficial detritivore and not a predatory carnivore.

[GaryZ]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Unless you had seen this worm attack a snail I would never think of it as an assasin. It may have been just cleaning up a dead carcass which I would consider a beneficial function and precise reason to have "bristle" worms in the tank. Do you have anything else in the tank that may like to snack on the live snails? Hermits, some other crabs( hitch hikers)?
Worms that prey on snails usually leave a heavy coat of mucous behind, after the attack and they are called Oenone fulgida.
Here's a good article to read about various worms, commonly found in aquaria, some are beneficial and some are predatory.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

There was a heavy coat of clear mucous. I've been checking into worms and it looks like it may be one of those fire worms. The guy at one of the LFS's I go to happen to pull out a hitchhiker worm in his tank when I bought some snails today and what he pulled out looked like a tiny version of what I have.

Couple questions:

Do they generally stay in the same rock? I hope so. It would be alot easier for me to quarantine the rock. That way it will be easier to lure out.

What should I use for bait? Shrimp?

[CSeaSee]

Originally Posted by GaryZ

a long wormlike thing

When you say long, how long? And can you guess at a diameter? Be careful with your hands, if you aren't already! Hopefully, it's a bristleworm, but if it is a fireworm (and the mucus coat seems to add another tally mark to that category), they can hurt from what I've read. It's too bad you didn't have a chance to get a pic.

[GaryZ]

Originally Posted by CSeaSee

When you say long, how long? And can you guess at a diameter? Be careful with your hands, if you aren't already! Hopefully, it's a bristleworm, but if it is a fireworm (and the mucus coat seems to add another tally mark to that category), they can hurt from what I've read. It's too bad you didn't have a chance to get a pic.

Man, I wasn't even 100% sure what I was looking at. I tried to keep my eye on it for any sort of movement. I actually looked like a long barbed stick, poking right into the snail shell. Then something else caught my eye for just a second, I looked back and it was gone. It wasn't until it was gone that the idea of sanpping i pc dawned on me.:slap:

As far as diameter. Through the glass it looked to be about 1/4". I'm not really sure how much the glass refracts things. But it definately looked beefy. I would say that, roughly, 3" was sticking out of the rock.

[Ninong]

The "heavy coat of clear mucous" doesn't fit in with a bristleworm. What is the source of your live rock? Which ocean did it come from?

Unless you have Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico live rock, it is unlikely that you have one of the nasty fireworms. Most so-called fireworms are harmless with the notable exception of one particular species that is common in the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean.

I wouldn't be too concerned if I were you. Odds are about 99-1 that you don't have a problem.

[CSeaSee]

How big was the snail shell that the worm was in? Like, a Turbo-sized shell, or something smaller? Also, how big was the worm in size (diameter) compared to the shell's opening? I have a bunch of small (1-3 mm diameter) bristleworms in my tank, as I'm sure a lot of us do, and they hide in the rock, under the rock. Fireworms, I think, do the same thing. I've never seen a really thick mucus coating before... sounds kinda gross!

[GaryZ]

I'm not sure where the rock is from. It's been handed down. I won't be overly concerned until it starts taking out my conch's.

[Reefland]

I agree and also wouldn't bother with trying to remove it. As mentioned it is most likely a beneficial scavenger.

[GaryZ]

It was gross. Stunk like hell too. It was an average size black turbo. The area that this happened in was an area of no flow that went unoticed because I didn't have a light yet. It was a little cavern of death from the looks of it. The whole scene looked like something out of a horror movie, it was actually pretty interesting. As far as the size of the snail compared to the size of the worm, if the worm is predatory, my snails don't stand a chance. Maybe I should put a little sign at the entrance to the cavern. Or maybe put the snail shell on a stick at the entrance.

[Ninong]

Hermodice carunculata:

[Ninong]

Eurythoe complanata:

[CSeaSee]

Cool pics! Especially that first one. Was that a wild shot, or is there an interesting (and possibly humorous) tank story behind it?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by CSeaSee

Cool pics! Especially that first one. Was that a wild shot, or is there an interesting (and possibly humorous) tank story behind it?

The pictures of the Hermodice carunculata were found on the net using a Google images search. The picture of the Eurythoe complanata was taken in my tank. That one was about 7" long. They grow very fast. I purchased a dozen babies (about 1" long) and within six weeks I had several that were more than 4" long. Within a year I had dozens of them. The only problem is that I think my Orchid Dottyback likes to eat them. I can still find a lot of them at night after the lights are out and the Dottyback is asleep. They are fantastic detritivores and a valuable addition to any reef tank IMO. Not everyone agrees with that assessment. There are a few people who think they are predatory. I don't think the evidence supports that view.

[Ninong]

"Bristleworm" and "fireworm" are meaningless common names that are used interchangeably. Some people use the term "bristleworm" for virtually any polychaete. Most people who use the term "fireworm" are thinking of Hermodice carunculata but I have seen it used to describe virtually any polychaete with obvious bristles.

[CSeaSee]

I've got a ton of guys that aren't quite that large, probably bristleworms, but they certainly help keep the bottom cleaned. I, also, have never seen mine act predatory, but they have certainly freaked me out when they crawled from their rock holes and dangled when I picked the rock out of the tank for a move! My fiance, who hates bugs (or anything creepy-crawly), shudders when I talk about them, and completely loses it when one peeks out every now and then, when she's over.
Are they classified Insectivora? My taxonomy fails me at this moment.

[Ninong]

The kingdom is Animalia. The phylum is Annelida. The class is Polychaeta.