Bobbit worms are scary...

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Krixic

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Those are really rare, is the thing. They're scary, but they're rare. And at least they don't spread all over the place like aiptasia or red bugs. There are many species of eunicid worm, but only a few that get big, and only a couple that get huge like those.

Personally, I think they're really cool. I'd love one in a species tank. 10g, maybe some invasive corals, and teach it to come out and eat from a set of tongs. Wouldn't be hard.
I saw a picture once of this really neat black-and-white striped one. Someone had brought it into my LFS to show them and get a big breeder box for it to live in. That one was maybe 6"? And I don't think it was the same species as these really huge ones.
Man, I would be scared to be in the same room as that thing. But to be fair I hate bristle worms the same. Worms in general freak me out
 

Memisis

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I'm no expert, nor do I know anything about those worms but im pretty sure that one will crawl out of the tank, climb inside you while you sleep and walk you around like a puppet the following morning to do cool "worm stuff".... that is a horrifying creature to look at.
 

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If anyone finds a big one of these, don't kill it. Put it in a bucket to keep it alive and offer it up here. I bet someone will take it. Be a shame to kill one if someone wants it.

It's not like they're all that dangerous to people. I mean, yeah, it could bite you if you tried to pick it up, but it's not going to come out and get you. It's an aquatic predator of fish, not an amphibious parasite.
 

Memisis

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If anyone finds a big one of these, don't kill it. Put it in a bucket to keep it alive and offer it up here. I bet someone will take it. Be a shame to kill one if someone wants it.

It's not like they're all that dangerous to people. I mean, yeah, it could bite you if you tried to pick it up, but it's not going to come out and get you. It's an aquatic predator of fish, not an amphibious parasite.
Very true. Good call. I will gladly post to offer to have someone come over to get it out of my tank. But you are right, its not a parasite live and let live.
 

Phycodurus

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... eunicid bristleworms ... making grown men scream like little girls for over 400 million years. :eek:

1600477329139.jpeg
 

vetteguy53081

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Scary creepy to say the least.
They remind me of the big creepy worm in the first star wars in that garbage chute

1600477548899.png
1600477561159.png
 

jshep13

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I had one in my tank a long time ago. Scared the crap out of me when my hand was in the tank doing maintenance and it went for my hand. Had to look it up at the time, but I will never forget that one. Ended up setting a trap and was able to dispose of it.
 

Ceti

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I’m sure a course of Plaquenil at 70 mg/gallon would kill this puppy in a day or less. It would come out of hiding and twist in agony in front of your eyes. It would also wipe out all invertebrates and algae in the tank, followed by a spike in ammonia, etc.
 

DHill6

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If anyone finds a big one of these, don't kill it. Put it in a bucket to keep it alive and offer it up here. I bet someone will take it. Be a shame to kill one if someone wants it.

It's not like they're all that dangerous to people. I mean, yeah, it could bite you if you tried to pick it up, but it's not going to come out and get you. It's an aquatic predator of fish, not an amphibious parasite.
Predator of expensive coral, 2 scoly, 2 rhizo, clam.
 

DHill6

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Also a chunk taken out of the middle of an expensive fire fish, I bet it was the culprit.
 

Milkman420

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Proper solution stick a bunch of Piranhas in there and watch them tear that worm to shreds
I don’t know bro I had a tank with 20 piranhas in it and they were scaredy cats. They would run from shadows lol. Throw dead food in there and they demolish it in seconds. Throw live food in there and they would run to the other side as a pack and I would end up with a tank with 4 feeder fish and 20 piranhas. I was told they’re like that in the beginning but they change after they get comfortable in the tank well that didn’t happen for the 2 years I had the tank. Now oscars and arrowana on the other hand would eat absolutely everything including 5 cichlids in one night.
 

Tired

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Oh yeah, that's piranha. The redbellies are wimps. They're only dangerous to large prey when they're having a bad time during the dry season, when they're all concentrated into little pools and starving. Mind you, there are credible reports of them killing very large animals like that, but they aren't actually any meaner than other freshwater fish. Any given minnow will swarm food like they do. Piranha just have the teeth to back it up when they swarm things.

The Atlanta aquarium has a big tank full of piranha, and they have two videos that play on a loop next to the tank; a video of them swarming and devouring a big dead fish during feeding time, and a video of them cowering in terror in the corner as a scuba diver cleaned their tank.
 

JaimeAdams

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I had a Bobbit worm that I found after a tank tear down that I helped someone from the club with. It was probably about 18 inches long. Some people are into them though. I had people hit me up on here that wanted the worm.
 

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