Some more feathery fun.

[fishfanatic2]

How od feather dusters propagate? I think I read somewhere that it was sexually, however that does not make any sense whatsoever. I ask because a while back I bought a large feather duster. It died after crawling out of its tube, but I think it left a mark. BEfore i got the worm, I hadn't had any of the about 100 or so tube worms I have now. The crown pattern is also the same, being striped on each "feather". During the time I had the worm, I had two 'webbing' incidents, where this slimeish stuff appeared in my tank, increased until it covered like the whole tank, then dropped off within 24 hours. I have not had this happen since the worm died. WHat's up with this? Thanks!

 

[fishfanatic2]

SOMEONE must know!

 

[morg59]

I have had that webbing thing happen in my tank from time to time also. It seems to come out of a few small holes in my live rock.

 

[Anonymous]

Check out this article:
http://www.aquarium.net/0897/0897_5.shtml
for more info. From what I quickly gleaned of it, some of the sabellid worms are asexual, or at least have a very short planktonic stage if they are sexual. These are the ones you're probably seeing. You may notice them in high flow areas like inside of pumps, your skimmer, etc.

 

[fishfanatic2]

Since the duster came from a duster-only tank with more of its kind, I have 2 theories. First one is that the dusters in the store tank had reroduced and I got some mini plankton dusters in the shipping water. This doesn't explain the webbing, and since I never add any shipping water it is still unclear if this is likely. The second theory is that I got an asexual one that spawned. This explains the webbing, but the fact that there are few sabellids that are asexual makes the chance of me getting one slim.

Or the mini ones could have nothing to do with the big one. This doesn't explain anything. Does the crown pattern on the small ones being identical to the big one's crown have a signifigance? Thanks!

 

[fishfanatic2]

Thanks for the article.

What do you mean when you say I might see them in hi-flow areas? And what about the crown thing?

 

[fishfanatic2]

bump

 

[fishfanatic2]

bumpety bump bump

 

[fishfanatic2]

bumpety bump bump, bumpety bump bump look at Frosty go!

 

[teevee]

I expect the small worms you see have nothing to do with your large dearly departed individual. The smaller ones most certainly reproduce asexually, and are regular hitchhiker. You will see new crowns emerge from the tube of the larger animal and later split off. I started with two in my refugium, and now the fuge is a jungle of them, and they have moved into my sump, through the baffles, and into my display tank, where they are now preparing to take over the sandbed anywhere light does not directly shine.

 

[fishfanatic2]

OK

Well, I guess we'll see what happens, they probably are just hitchikers. :roll:

But that still doesn't explain why they came out about 4 months after I got the LR... :roll: