Coral Boring Spionid Worms -- an ugly bane to SPS

[Biologic]

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?

It's got to be a long term treatment. A dip isn't enough. That's why I think an anti-parasitic is the best course of action. It has to come out the coral skeleton, open up, and act normally and become poisoned. This has to take days to occur. Like as if you are treating red bugs. The entire tank needs to be treated as they can live inside coralline.

For all who read this --- make no mistake, these are not harmless. They irritate the coral in areas causing it to retreat and algae grows in its place.

Worse than vermenteds. Just as invasive. Much more detrimental. You can live with these for a year, and it not cause too much damage, but once you have them, you cannot get rid of them. Waiting for time to actually treat my tank the above proposed solutions.

 

[Reefahholic]

BRS chiller guide?

I am convinced that Bumblebee snails don't do diddly. I have a 50 gallon tank. I bought 13 of them. I have plenty of vermented snails to prove it. They are actually the only snails I have. I use urchins otherwise.

It can be hit and miss.

Photo credit: Unknown

 

[Reefahholic]

Wow that's incredible! Thank you for this post. Posts like these elevate the hobby.

I am going to try Potassium Chloride first because its accessible for most hobbyists and its mild for coral.

Already tried a regular dose. No success. Try a more potent dose for double or triple the normal duration.

 

[Reefahholic]

Never thought they bore into corals….more that corals encrust around their territory. The coral continues to encrust as the worms extend out to survive

I got an ID on the worms that I have.

They are “Boring Spionid Polychaete worms.”

In the paper below, “Of 656 corals examined, 218 (33.2%) were infested with boring spionid worms.” Furthermore, they concluded that “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.”

Here’s the paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-Sea-and-relationships-to-water-chemistry.pdf

They’re under the base of this stag.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I got an ID on the worms that I have.

They are “Boring Spionid Polychaete worms.”

In the paper below, “Of 656 corals examined, 218 (33.2%) were infested with boring spionid worms.” Furthermore, they concluded that “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.”

Here’s the paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-Sea-and-relationships-to-water-chemistry.pdf

They’re under the base of this stag.

I believe I lost several Tenuis to these little suckers. Most hobbyist say they’re harmless but I disagree. The corals will seem fine for a long time before the stress of the boring finally takes them out.

I haven’t seen any since a series of really heavy interceptor treatments. I have no idea if that’s what took them out but they’re all gone now

 

[Reefahholic]

I believe I lost several Tenuis to these little suckers. Most hobbyist say they’re harmless but I disagree. The corals will seem fine for a long time before the stress of the boring finally takes them out.

I haven’t seen any since a series of really heavy interceptor treatments. I have no idea if that’s what took them out but they’re all gone now

Nice!

The corals will seem fine for a long time before the stress of the boring finally takes them out.

Exactly. I’m if you look at this sick Pearlberry below, you can barely see them until I point it out. It’s ok, they got a nice 1 Hr potent Bayer dip. They survived the first normal 15 minute dip so I wanted to see if they can tolerate 1 Hr (I expect they will). If they survive I’ll do ivermectin next. If they make it through that, I will start with dewormers.

 

[sculpin01]

Ivermectin does work. Someone on the ReefBeef Discord tried and the worms all died. Requires a lot of care to use it and not nuke your tank, though.

 

[A. grandis]

Those spionoid worms harmless organisms that will die in a relatively low nutrient system. If you feed your corals they will, like most worms, proliferate to a large population. So if you don't target/broad feed your corals you won't have problems with these guys. They used to come burrowed in live rocks back in the day. Totally harmless, unlike vermitids that will send that web to capture food particles and irritates the other organisms around them.
To eradicate them you can simply cut the piece of the Acro colony where they are and remove it from the system. Again, the more you feed the system the more you will see them around. I actually love those worms and tried to keep a fair population of them in my system, but they are only found on the sand right now. I have them for more than a decade only in the sand between some zoas. Not a bid deal. Again, if you think they are ugly just frag that coral and export them from the system and stop feeding the corals, if you are. They will probably disappear.

 

[Reefahholic]

Those spionoid worms harmless organisms that will die in a relatively low nutrient system.

We must be talking about two completely different worms. Almost every coral that has these in my system has stopped progressing completely or is growing very slowly.

Again, the more you feed the system the more you will see them around.

I haven’t fed my system any coral food at all, and I’m probably one of the most minimal fish feeders I know.

I actually love those worms and tried to keep a fair population of them in my system, but they are only found on the sand right now.

Please come take all of mine. I’m going to have to frag several corals to get them out and hope they never come back. I remember seeing them in another system. Same thing happened. The corals/coral just never did well or was stunted completely.

 

[Ocean1]

I used the dip from reef moonshiners and it works.Dipped for 1 hour in light current lots of dead worms when finished.

 

[A. grandis]

We must be talking about two completely different worms. Almost every coral that has these in my system has stopped progressing completely or is growing very slowly.


I haven’t fed my system any coral food at all, and I’m probably one of the most minimal fish feeders I know.


Please come take all of mine. I’m going to have to frag several corals to get them out and hope they never come back. I remember seeing them in another system. Same thing happened. The corals/coral just never did well or was stunted completely.

There are several species of those type of worms. All of the ones I've had in my systems died after couple of months. Some species grow in the sand ( family Spionidae, Chaetopteridae, Terebellidae) and some other species grow in the rocks (family Spionidae). I get very upset when I find some and they die after a while. Only the ones in the sand survive for years in my systems. Of course with so many different species we can't know exactly what you have. One thing that I know is that all the species I've seen up to this date would never interfere with coral health/growth. The growth of the colony looks weird because of the adaptation around the tubes of the worms. They simply live in the coral. They don't feed on coral tissue. They are filter feeders and/or detrivors. If the conditions are right they will become a nuisance like anything else... Keep us posted.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I have only noticed these a few times in numbers on acropora and they mostly died off over time. I wonder if some of these issues are from some of the worms dying inside the coral and causing the coral to stress. Obviously now that people are running high nutrients these are being seen more often. But they don’t seem to be doing anything but growing outward from the original spot. Large colonies are unaffected by the worms from what I have seen.
The only worms that are actual known to cause major issues are the black thin coral boring worms that actually tunnel in the coral. Breaking a branch will show black dots where the worms were tunneling. And the corals show obvious signs that something is killing them.

 

[A. grandis]

Those with black tubes are actually snails and they are called Vermitids (Vermitidae family). They release a net of mucus to collect particle from the water column. The net irritates coals and other sessile organisms like zoanthids, soft corals and clams. Terrible! They also proliferate very fast when particle coral foods and amino acids are offered to the system. The worse thing besides an infestation of aiptasia or majano anemones is to have an infestation of vermitids IMHO.
Other organisms also form black tubes, like small feather dusters.

 

[Biologic]

I got an ID on the worms that I have.

They are “Boring Spionid Polychaete worms.”

In the paper below, “Of 656 corals examined, 218 (33.2%) were infested with boring spionid worms.” Furthermore, they concluded that “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.”

Here’s the paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-Sea-and-relationships-to-water-chemistry.pdf

They’re under the base of this stag.

found that same paper. This is a pest you do not want with high nutrients plus feeding heavy.

I’ll have to catch some pictures when my glass is cleaned of how it deforms corals. It some places it will cause die off. Other places coral attempts to coexist and envelops it. It’s two antennae stick out always however.

 

[Biologic]

We must be talking about two completely different worms. Almost every coral that has these in my system has stopped progressing completely or is growing very slowly.


I haven’t fed my system any coral food at all, and I’m probably one of the most minimal fish feeders I know.


Please come take all of mine. I’m going to have to frag several corals to get them out and hope they never come back. I remember seeing them in another system. Same thing happened. The corals/coral just never did well or was stunted completely.

this is the truth. I had great growth until they took off. They are boring into the rock.

 

[Biologic]

There are several species of those type of worms. All of the ones I've had in my systems died after couple of months. Some species grow in the sand ( family Spionidae, Chaetopteridae, Terebellidae) and some other species grow in the rocks (family Spionidae). I get very upset when I find some and they die after a while. Only the ones in the sand survive for years in my systems. Of course with so many different species we can't know exactly what you have. One thing that I know is that all the species I've seen up to this date would never interfere with coral health/growth. The growth of the colony looks weird because of the adaptation around the tubes of the worms. They simply live in the coral. They don't feed on coral tissue. They are filter feeders and/or detrivors. If the conditions are right they will become a nuisance like anything else... Keep us posted.

agree with this. If you have a higher nutrient tank this becomes a problem. Since I basically stopped feeding my tank all together, it’s been better. I only have a tang and two damsels which helps.

coral foods are out of the picture.

Been using filter socks to knock a bit of mulm and DOM out of the water. Which I believe helps too.

 

[Biologic]

I have only noticed these a few times in numbers on acropora and they mostly died off over time. I wonder if some of these issues are from some of the worms dying inside the coral and causing the coral to stress. Obviously now that people are running high nutrients these are being seen more often. But they don’t seem to be doing anything but growing outward from the original spot. Large colonies are unaffected by the worms from what I have seen.
The only worms that are actual known to cause major issues are the black thin coral boring worms that actually tunnel in the coral. Breaking a branch will show black dots where the worms were tunneling. And the corals show obvious signs that something is killing them.

I think they have an affinity for montiporas in particular. I got my first one from that beach bum in the start of the thread. No where close was it to this small bit of bugger size forest fire digi monti, the colony is absolutely being affected.

montipora capricornus seems be a bit more resistant.

Acroporas tend to be a mix bag. If they are particularly weak growing species or fickle cultivator, they will become infected.

for now my tank continues to have them, basically status quo. Just don’t feel like doing think about it because of the time commitment and risk of bad treatment choices. Don’t want to nuke the tank. Don’t want to have to set up a temporary tank for treatment for the fish and inverts. Don’t feel like waiting a month of running carbon weekly pulling out ivermectin and gambling killing an invert.

though pretending it’s not there doesn’t mean it will go away.

 

[Reefahholic]

I think they have an affinity for montiporas in particular. I got my first one from that beach bum in the start of the thread. No where close was it to this small bit of bugger size forest fire digi monti, the colony is absolutely being affected.

montipora capricornus seems be a bit more resistant.

Acroporas tend to be a mix bag. If they are particularly weak growing species or fickle cultivator, they will become infected.

for now my tank continues to have them, basically status quo. Just don’t feel like doing think about it because of the time commitment and risk of bad treatment choices. Don’t want to nuke the tank. Don’t want to have to set up a temporary tank for treatment for the fish and inverts. Don’t feel like waiting a month of running carbon weekly pulling out ivermectin and gambling killing an invert.

though pretending it’s not there doesn’t mean it will go away.

 

[Reefahholic]

found that same paper. This is a pest you do not want with high nutrients plus feeding heavy.

I’ll have to catch some pictures when my glass is cleaned of how it deforms corals. It some places it will cause die off. Other places coral attempts to coexist and envelops it. It’s two antennae stick out always however.

Yep, they are little turkeys for sure. I fragged them out of a green slimer, Miyagi tort, and pink lemonade recently. Almost completely stunted them all. Frags next to them are blowing up. Slimer didn’t have any growth tips for 4 months which is not normal in my tank.

 

[Reefahholic]

You can see all the new growth on this JF Tierra Del Fuego frag sitting next to the remounted slimer that didn’t do anything for months. I finally looked at the back to see if it had worms and sure enough.