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)?
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)?