Help ID a large worm

[Keith P]

My buddy has these worms that he can't get a picture of. They are LARGE. When they come out of the rocks they are over 12" long. Tan colored (a little iridescent when we aim a flash light at them). They have 2 rows of legs 180? apart. They look like little fingers (as opposed to bristles). It is very light sensitive, which is why we are having such a hard time getting a picture of them. It moves VERY fast. It can retract it whole body back into a hole in 1/2 a second. When it moves around, it leaves a "snail trail". We only see it when feeding the anemone or CUC. It STOLE whole silverside out of a carpet anemone?s mouth!

Any ideas? Sorry for the lousy description and lack of pics.

More importantly than an exact ID, is it dangerous? We thought there was only one of them, but last night he spotted a second!

 

[MikeyZO]

Check out this article, see if it matches any there.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/index.php

Could also be a bristle worm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/rs/index.php

 

[Keith P]

Mikey, you da man!

The worm looks to be a Eunice. I think this would also explain the watchman goby and fire fish that both recently dissapeard over night!

We have at least two of these. We are making a trap and will remove them. Do they have any value?

 

[Keith P]

Digging a little deeper, they look to be oenone fulgida. We figure there are only 2, since we only see 2 "snail trails" in the tank.

One is over 14" long!

The trap is set. Lets see if we can catch em!

 

[DevIouS]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/57747-we-complain-about-bristleworms.html

 

[MikeyZO]

good luck, let us know what happens

 

[Keith P]

We caught one! 14" long! I'll have pics up soon. My buddy was up until 3am stalking this bugger.

 

[Keith P]

 

[MikeyZO]

sweet

 

[marki24]

how did you catch it?

 

[Keith P]

The trap didn't work.

So we lured it out with a silverside and grabbed it with tongs. It stretched like it was going to break. It finally let go. It's going to take two people to catch the other.

 

[sjsoto]

good job,

 

[mk4fan]

That worm is a "oenome fulgida". It is a snail and clam eater, good thing you caught it.

The polychaete Oenone fulgida eats snails and clams. Approximately 0.1 inch (0.25 cm) in diameter and 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 cm) long, this worm is bright orange in color and secretes a mucus which it uses to trap and suffocate snails, eating the tissues when the snail dies.
This worm attacks clams by boring a perfectly round hole in the clam's shell and feeds on the living clam's tissues. The worm retracts into the live rock and returns to it's meal through the same hole or bores a new one. A healthy clam can block the hole with a protein matrix and seal it with new calcareous shell. The clam, now weakened, eventually gets an infection and dies.
This worm is common in live rock and the only way to remove it from your tank is to remove the rock it retreats into.