99 problems and a WORM is one

[Gtinnel]

I'm pretty positive it's a dorvillidae worm.
If thats a bobbit worm then I have a lot of bobbit worms in my tank that have never caused any issues.

 

[Goaway]

I successfully removed the worm intact and squished that ****** on the table lol

Good job. Too bad you didn't take another pic for those thinking its a dorvelle. Dorvelles dont have a white banded neck. Eunicid species do.
You saved yourself a huge headache.

 

[Gtinnel]

Good job. Too bad you didn't take another pic for those thinking its a dorvelle. Dorvelles dont have a white banded neck. Eunicid species do.
You saved yourself a huge headache.

Unfortunately we will never know for sure, but we will have to agree to disagree. If it were my tank I would've left the worm but when an ID isn't absolute it's best to remove a hitch hiker from our tanks.
I have been googling dorvilleidae worms trying to learn more about them and I can find several threads on several forums where a worm with a white spot behind the head gets identified as a dorvilleidae. Although to be fair its just people posting on forums and nothing scientific, so they could all be wrong.

One thread caught my eye there is a worm with a white area behind its head (most noticeable in the last pic) and you identified it as a dorvillidae.

Dorvilleidae Worm???

Hey! So, I found yesterday 5 of these worms hanging out in the tank (for the moment my livestock is fine), the closest match I've found is Dorvilleidae but im not completely sure of it. What do you guys think? Bad hitchhiker? Thanks :)

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Goaway]

That is is a dorvillae worm. It has a much different body than a eunicid. There is no white band on the neck NO "WHITE" band. Now if the op's photo gave a false white band, that's is most unfortunate. The white band is a dead give away on eunice species.

 

[Goaway]

I must have struck gold, because I had a eunice worm x 6. 5 in sand during a tank tear down
1 monster in a large rock I spent 30 minutes breaking apart to get this beast.
Guess why it grew so big? I thought it was a dorville worm. They were ALL small and came with my live rock. I thought they were detrivores. Eventually, they disappeared. A year later this guy in the photo is eating my mushrooms. So I would not want the OP to be put in the same situation as myself because of a mistake saying "the worm is safe" and it grows up killing his inverts and corals.



@Gtinnel
So my question to you is, for bad advice, should the worm grow up and become a large predator, would you be willing to pay the OP to reimburse the damage that could have been prevented? I ask myself this every time I ID something. What's the safest road for the OP. This is their aquarium run at their cost not yours or mine, there are many detrivores and CuC to replace a dorville worm.

 

[Gtinnel]

@Gtinnel
So my question to you is, for bad advice, should the worm grow up and become a large predator, would you be willing to pay the OP to reimburse the damage that could have been prevented? I ask myself this every time I ID something. What's the safest road for the OP. This is their aquarium run at their cost not yours or mine, there are many detrivores and CuC to replace a dorville worm.

I agree completely that when the OP, or anyone for that matter, asks a question online it is the responsibility of them to ultimately determine what they have. Answers that people give online should only be used as guidence of what they should research to see if that is indeed what they have. In my post I very clearly stated that when an ID is not positive then it is best to remove the worm.

I may be missing something but in this picture there appears to be a white area behind the head of this worm, and you confirmed this worm as dorvilleidae.

Dorvilleidae is a family of worms, with many genera and even more species. Saying that dorvilleidae do not have a white mark behind the head is a pretty broad statement, unless you are very familiar with all species in that family.

Also, in regards to your experience of a small worm growing into a big worm how can you tell it was the same worms? Maybe what you saw was a Dorvilleidae, but you also had Eunice worms. Having one doesn't exclude you from having both.

 

[Goaway]

That is not a white band. It is transparent. Not clear, or see threw. It has a transparency. Just like the top of its head

 

[Goaway]

small worm growing into a big worm how can you tell it was the same worms? Maybe what you saw was a Dorvilleidae, but you also had Eunice worms. Having one doesn't exclude you from having both.

I will repeat myself, it is the band behind the head. While I was mistaken on my worms. What became very clear was the mark behind the heads. What I once thought was a dorville worm, I started to question as I watched them roam the glass and one night, no longer to be seen. I should have taken pictures. I regret not doing so.
When I did my tear down to upgrade the aquarium. I found the worms I saw once again. They were in the sand. 5 of them
How do I know they were the same worm? The mouth .. the jaw. That weird white head band, it was not transparent. The way they grabbed their food. They roamed the glass and sand, picking up algae and left overs. They had weird jaws. Like "The Predator" almost, if you would call it that.

I needed to know what this worm was.
I looked and looked and ran into eunicid species.

And now the event above, there was one eunice left I did not notice was living in my live rock. Until I saw it go after my skunk shrimp.

If I had taken pictures from the start to this point, you would have your answer how I know what my worms are.

Now for the OP... Only he can truly tell us if there was a white band or not. Or if it looks like the worm above. If It was in more apperance of the dorville. My appologise to the worm. I got it killed.

 

[Goaway]

I know this is another post, and I am sorry for my ramblings.

While bobbit worms are rare, some odd reason eunice worms are appearing with newly purchased live rock. I would say new being a yr old. So the question now is, what is happening that is causing them to move into the cultured live rocks we are buying?

I have bought over 100lbs of live rock in my life and never seen this worm once. until now. Our hobby is changing.

 

[elysics]

Way better than white bands (that not all Eunicidae have either) is to look at the antennae. Most Eunicidae have an uneven number with one antenna right in the middle between the eyes, sometimes pointing upwards, and the antennae usually are similar in width. Dorvilleidae have 4 of what looks like antennae, with the front pair often appearing thinner than the pair behind that.

 

[Goaway]

Most Eunicidae have an uneven number with one antenna right in the middle between the eyes, sometimes pointing upwards,

Thank you for this as well. The antenna of the op's worm doesn't appear to have dorville antenna. Could be lack of detail though.

 

[Gtinnel]

Way better than white bands (that not all Eunicidae have either) is to look at the antennae. Most Eunicidae have an uneven number with one antenna right in the middle between the eyes, sometimes pointing upwards, and the antennae usually are similar in width. Dorvilleidae have 4 of what looks like antennae, with the front pair often appearing thinner than the pair behind that.

I agree with this. I thought the OPs worm has more of a "whiskers" look, that including it being small worm on the glass, which is why my opinion of dorvilleidae. What would your opinion be upon the type of worm?

I do agree that clearer pictures would have been very beneficial.

 

[elysics]

If i was forced to guess i'd say Dorvilleidae, based on crawling on glass, white tail spot, and image cues that may or may not be camera noise such as the "whisker" like appearance you mentioned. But that's mostly just circumstantial evidence, a closeup of the head would be much more helpful

 

[tautog83]

I think it's funny that we're arguing over it . If I dont know I kill it. If it's good o well because theres probably 5000 other things in my tank that are beneficial and a 2 " worm isnt going to make a difference in anything . I agree biodiversity is awesome but even if the chances are 1% that it was a Eunice I'd kill it. I mean it's good to learn and educate yourself but if theres a doubt and you have a chance to get it out , do ittt

 

[Goaway]

I have to agree with the above poster. After my own mistakes, if I don't know what it is. or can not ID it. It dies.

 

[Gtinnel]

I think it's funny that we're arguing over it . If I dont know I kill it. If it's good o well because theres probably 5000 other things in my tank that are beneficial and a 2 " worm isnt going to make a difference in anything . I agree biodiversity is awesome but even if the chances are 1% that it was a Eunice I'd kill it. I mean it's good to learn and educate yourself but if theres a doubt and you have a chance to get it out , do ittt

I believe we all agree that if there is any question the safest thing to do is to remove it. Other than that I've used this as a good learning experience. I've spent several hours researching worms. When I got into this hobby I would've never believed I would spend as much time as I have over the years looking at images of worms, LOL

Besides who doesn't love a good debate as long as tempers don't rise, which I dont believe they have. If at any point it seems like I was getting "short" I apologize it was never my intention.

 

[Goaway]

I would've never believed I would spend as much time as I have over the years looking at images of worms, LOL

Hitch hikers are the greatest thing in this hobby for me. When it comes to slugs and nudis, I don't have a clue.

 

[Gtinnel]

Hitch hikers are the greatest thing in this hobby for me. When it comes to slugs and nudis, I don't have a clue.

There are many things in this hobby that I either won't reply to all or at least rarely reply to because I don't know enough to be of any help. Normally with worms I feel pretty confident though. In the future if I ever suggest a worm to be dorvilleidae I will spend more time looking at it.

 

[Tired]

Personally, if I see a suspicious animal, I catch it intact into a big cup of clean water. Then I can take good, up-close pictures, and find out what it is. And it can't escape in the meantime. If it's a pest, I can then humanely kill it. If not, back it goes.