Polychaete worm - not like the rest?

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
I was target feeding the re-cooperating trumpet coral this afternoon and noticed something odd. Now, there are a lot of bristle worms in my buddy's tank. A lot. Beneficial, yes. Worry-some, not really. Ugly as sin to look at... depends on perspective. But one of those ugly's that you can't help but look at. Then I saw this guy!

I apologize for the picture quality as my phone isn't that great. He's the big long pale yellow streak in the little cave.

View attachment 22197

Apparently, he's got a nice little cave to the left of where he is that he's been living in. I don't know how long he is exactly, but I can say roughly between 6 and 9 inches long. As a typical worm of that size, never came out to say hello (smart though as he would have received the metaphorical finger from me). It's crazy though, his bristles have an almost cilia like movement when he's cruising, almost like a millipede and they're somewhat tufted. I tried taking a video, but it's too damn dark to see him well enough.

Any ideas? I figure he's probably not too welcome in a reef tank, but even if he isn't, I might just rig up a spare 2.5 gallon and pipe it into the main refugium and give him a little home to chill in until I decide what to do with him. Anyone have any good tricks for catching worms (other than eating red meat and tearing the tank apart to get at him)?
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
You can catch it by making a worm trap. Use an old 1 liter soda bottle and a boba straw. Cut a hole in the bottle and put the boba straw in the hole about an inch inside the bottle. Put some fish food in the bottle and set it so the straw is touching the sand. The worm will get in, but wont be able to get out.
 

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
Nice. On it! Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have a new specimen tank!
 

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
No luck last night. I think the tube I'm using is too long, so I'll pull the bottle and snip it down. Should I put a couple of pinholes on the side of the bottle to let the "smell" escape the bottle?
 

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Modifications made and it seems to be working. Well, the bait is drawing their attention anyway, lets hope they go up the tube!
View attachment 22203
 

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
Pssh... That's nothing. I really wish I had a good camera. After I spot feed, you can see close to 100+ at various stages of growth that come out to feed. Anywhere from >1" to 6+. I've caught about 8 so far and I might need to restock the bait. It's insane. The amount of worms that are being lured out from the shrimp ****tail I brewed up is &$(@!^ REDICULOUS. I'm considering grabbing a siphon and just sucking up the ones that are bunched up around the bottle.

And this trap is working great. I've got my eye on the ball and I'm calling it. I got a great picture of the head of the crazy worm I'm trying to isolate for a hopeful specimen tank. This guy is big. So big I feel like talking like Steve Irwin when I see him. By my estimate, he's between 9-11" in length, but only 3/16" in diameter when he retracts. Tell me what you think! (Strange "first-fish" for a tank, I know.)
View attachment 22204
 

Matt_Arian

For Stuffing!
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
Well, this guy's a tricky son of a gun. I gave up on the bottle trap; I just can't justify taking out the worms that are keeping the tank clean. So, if I'm going to get this worm, I'm going to have to dig deep and start moving rock. Which really sucks, as the damsels just started courting and spawning a few days ago.:(
 
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