Coral Boring Spionid Worms -- an ugly bane to SPS

[Charlie’s Frags]

Does intercepter hurt any other inverts like snails and urchins? I actually have no snails other than maybe a few bumble bees and some random trochus babies. My urchins are the GOAT.

Doesn’t bother my snails or urchins. It’ll wipe out any crabs or shrimp though

 

[PeterErc]

I wonder if a blue spot or Valentini puffer or butterfly would make them a snack. I kept a blue spot and valentini for quite some time, yes they nibble on SPS and kept an orange digi pretty well cropped but they also crunched down on the vermetids. They would sharpen their beak on an acro one week, then next week do it on another while the first one healed up. Now I have a Klein bbf that likes to take a few bites out of some SPS but is knocking out the aptasia. When he is done with the aptasia he goes to his winter home down south in the sump until the aptasia come back. I never heard him complain out his lifestyle

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I haven’t seen an aiptasia in years. Aiptasia x to every one I had access to, then siphon the debris out with some air line tubing attached to an acrylic rod, add 20 peppermint shrimp/50g and never see them again

 

[Biologic]

I wonder if a blue spot or Valentini puffer or butterfly would make them a snack. I kept a blue spot and valentini for quite some time, yes they nibble on SPS and kept an orange digi pretty well cropped but they also crunched down on the vermetids.

I would love a blue spot or valentini puffer for the vermetids. Not sure how it would work out with the extreme flow I have in the tank. Or the scopas tang the only resident of this 50 gallon tank.

 

[dadnjesse]

Someone needs to write a book on pests treatment. A lot of that knowledge is locked away. This pest isn't common like the rest, so I am really glad to have a resource like R2R to come to. It's nice to also contribute to curing corals of pests.

I will definitely try interceptor if I can get my hands on it.

Interceptor For Large Dogs 51-100 Lbs (White) 3 Chews

We offer Interceptor For Large Dogs 51-100 lbs (White) 3 Chews online at the best price. Free & fast delivery. Buy now & earn rewards. Moneyback guarantee.

www.canadapetcare.com

You can buy the chewable ones from here. They are expensive.

 

[Biologic]

*** UPDATE ***

It appears that the potassium chloride dip did not kill the boring spionids. I can try again with Bayer Advanced.

Or try to get some interceptor next.

 

[Cell]

I think one may be able to starve them out by supergluing the holes, then monitoring closely for when they pop out again and plug it up right away, rinse repeat. Eventually they would have to starve. I've also thought of injecting some H202 straight into the hole with a needle and syringe.

 

[Biologic]

I think one may be able to starve them out by supergluing the holes, then monitoring closely for when they pop out again and plug it up right away, rinse repeat. Eventually they would have to starve. I've also thought of injecting some H202 straight into the hole with a needle and syringe.

I am certain the H2O2 would hurt the coral. The glue would also be too messy and ineffective and will also hurt the coral. I need poison for these suckers. I at least got it off the rock for easy dipping.

Kind of makes you realize how nice growers have it -- I can just remove this tile, dip it, and put it back in the system. Like how Top Shelf Aquatics does their systems, they grow them on these lollipops and can pull them out so easily.

 

[Cell]

There would be some localized coral damage, but there are also risks associated with dipping. But I'm speaking from my experience of a spionid here or there showing up on a frag. You are dealing with an infestation which requires different tactics. I use Bayer Advanced. It does not seem effective on spionids.

 

[Biologic]

There would be some localized coral damage, but there are also risks associated with dipping. But I'm speaking from my experience of a spionid here or there showing up on a frag. You are dealing with an infestation which requires different tactics. I use Bayer Advanced. It does not seem effective on spionids.

I do not have much tissue left of this coral. Thoughts on other methods such as interceptor?

 

[Cell]

Never used interceptor before.

 

[mfollen]

Do these only travel locally through the rock or do they spread in the water column?

 

[Biologic]

Do these only travel locally through the rock or do they spread in the water column?

As far as I can tell mostly through the rock itself.

 

[jDoSe]

imo this is a very underrated pest.

People care if sellers sell acro frags with aefw or red bugs, but to me these are FAR worse...
As far as I am aware, nothing gets rid of them. A few people mentioned interceptor (like for red bugs), but I have no idea where they got any evidence of that actually working. You pretty much need a full-tank treatment, because these will inhabit liverock.

If anyone has this really bad and want's to try something, let me know...I have something i'd like to test that is cheap and easy. I don't want to post anything experimental because if it doesn't work, I don't want someone to try it years from now and have it kill their entire tank.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

imo this is a very underrated pest.

People care if sellers sell acro frags with aefw or red bugs, but to me these are FAR worse...
As far as I am aware, nothing gets rid of them. A few people mentioned interceptor (like for red bugs), but I have no idea where they got any evidence of that actually working. You pretty much need a full-tank treatment, because these will inhabit liverock.

If anyone has this really bad and want's to try something, let me know...I have something i'd like to test that is cheap and easy. I don't want to post anything experimental because if it doesn't work, I don't want someone to try it years from now and have it kill their entire tank.

I agree that I wish there was a way to rid our tanks of these but I’ve never had/seen them on the original frag part of the coral I’m not convinced that they actually bore into corals. More that corals encrust over them.

 

[jDoSe]

I agree that is wish there was a way to rid out tanks of these but I’ve never had/seen them on the part of the original frag part. I’m not convinced that they actually bore into corals. More that coral encrust over them.

They definitely, without a doubt, bore into acropora.
Or...I guess it's possible reproduce inside the coral skeleton then bore a tunnel out. Either way, they definitely bore inside the acro skeleton.

 

[Hairyteeth]

imo this is a very underrated pest.

People care if sellers sell acro frags with aefw or red bugs, but to me these are FAR worse...
As far as I am aware, nothing gets rid of them. A few people mentioned interceptor (like for red bugs), but I have no idea where they got any evidence of that actually working. You pretty much need a full-tank treatment, because these will inhabit liverock.

If anyone has this really bad and want's to try something, let me know...I have something i'd like to test that is cheap and easy. I don't want to post anything experimental because if it doesn't work, I don't want someone to try it years from now and have it kill their entire tank.

So true, highly underrated… very devastating

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

They definitely, without a doubt, bore into acropora.
Or...I guess it's possible reproduce inside the coral skeleton then bore a tunnel out. Either way, they definitely bore inside the acro skeleton.

Yeah, they actively bore into the coral/rock for at least part of the tunneling process (see the links below*). If I recall correctly, they use chemicals and their specialized chaetae (their bristles) to tunnel.

I can’t remember the paper I read discussing their reproduction at the moment, but, if I recall correctly, at least a few species actually do reproduce in the tunnels and the young dig their way out, exacerbating the damage to the rock/coral. I’ll try to post the reference and it if I can find it again.

* The links:

Bioeroding (boring) polychaete species (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

Bioeroding (boring) polychaete species (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) - Volume 101 Issue 2

www.cambridge.org

http://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/39.1/47.pdf

https://www.marine.usf.edu/reefslab/documents/evol_ecol2007/Glynn(inpress).pdf

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I can’t remember the paper I read discussing their reproduction at the moment, but, if I recall correctly, at least a few species actually do reproduce in the tunnels and the young dig their way out, exacerbating the damage to the rock/coral. I’ll try to post the reference and it if I can find it again.

I don’t know if this is the one I read before or a different one, but I found one:

Reproduction, larval development and functional relationships of the burrowing, spionid polychaete Dipolydora armata with the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata - Marine Biology

Dipolydora armata (Langerhans, 1880) is a small (4 to 5 mm) spionid polychaete found burrowing in the calcareous hydrozoan Millepora complanata Lamarck, 1816, on coral reefs at Barbados, West Indies. It excavates complex networks of interconnecting burrows and forms aggregations of worms in...

link.springer.com

 

[Hairyteeth]

Can a shrimp of some sort grab /eat them?