Not that anyone has found yet.
I’m not sure. I’d imagine you would need something that could follow them into their burrows for the predation to be effective though, as these guys have been shown to be partially eaten by things like killifish only to regenerate without issue on a regular basis in the wild (with specimens typically losing ~13-24% of their bodies and regenerating completely within ~2 weeks). I’d guess there are some predatory worms that might be effective against these guys, but (like the nudibranch mentioned above) you’d have a tough time finding one even if you knew which species to look for.
They definitely reproduce in the skeleton and bore out, I have groups in sps that multiply and new heads poke out right next to the group slowly spreading
I think its the mythical cure all to all sessile pests, lol.
They definitely eat vermetid snails for me, maybe not as fast as they breed… but eating these worms I don’t think they could get the whole thing if they tried
If anything eats vermatids, I think it’s emeralds. Maybe it’s coincidence but since I got 2 huge emerald crabs, I haven’t seen as many small vermatids. Could just be maturing reef but who knows.
Patterns of polychaete worm infestation of stony corals in the northern Red Sea and relationships to water chemistry
Patterns of polychaete worm infestation of stony corals in the no...: Ingenta Connect
www.ingentaconnect.com
Coral reefs of the northern Red Sea are biodiverse and rich in endemisms, but also
fragile and susceptible to stress by natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Colo- nies of several genera of reef-building stony corals at Eilat (Israeli Red Sea) recently have become infested with boring spionid polychaete worms, the presence of which has induced skeletal aberrations on corals. Of 656 corals examined, 218 (33.2%) were infested with boring spionid worms. The percent of infested coral colonies in the coral genera Leptastrea and Porites was significantly correlated with the con- centration of total oxidized nitrogen (TON, NO2 + NO3) in the water column. TON levels also significantly predicted the likelihood of colony infestation in the corals Leptastrea, Pavona, and Porites, and the likelihood of skeletal aberration in Porites. high abundances of coral-boring polychaetes have been reported in other reef areas close to organic waste discharges. we conclude that anthropogenic nitrogen enrich- ment of waters surrounding coral reefs at Eilat may have caused corals to become vulnerable to infestation by boring spionid polychaetes, resulting in coral skeleton aberrations and increased susceptibility to damage by storms.
Just shrimp and crabs need to come out. Snails will be fine. It’s so easy to do. Remove carbon and any other similar media. Remove your skimmer cup and turn off uv sterilizer and turn uv settings on your lights to 0. I’ve done 2 large pills in my 50g tank with zero problems.
I was going to suggest ivermectin but you won't be able to keep inverts (shrimp, crabs, pods) for 6-12 months as it is THAT toxic. Ask me how I know...
These are what I have and they have survived Bayer and Coral RX Pro. I even cut their little tubes off and basted into the coral well.
Photo Credit: preef
I think these are fairly protected living inside of coral skeletons. I have seen them inside of SPS colony, they survived dips and killed the colony fairly quickly. They leave a hollowed out spot inside the skeleton, if you snip an arm off infected arms will have a spot going through the middle. Totally remind me of coral termites. I wounder if they could be killed with ultra sound?
