Feather Duster Worm pulled out of tube and eaten? Half of a worm found....

[Pastronomer]

Just got home, checked the tank first thing as I always do, found my feather Duster pulled out of it's tube and bitten almost all the way through in two spots. It's just floating around in the water quite clearly dead. Thankfully it happened today as I'm off abroad for work for 4 days now and it would have made a mess of my tanks water.

Spoiler: Dead worm pics

Tank stocking is 2 clowns, 2 nano gobies, blood red fire shrimp and a bunch of blue leg hermits.

Water is good and the worm has been there for 3+ months happily waving away, feeding well.

I assume I've got an unknown predator in the tank, any thoughts on what I could be dealing with?

Sad as always to lose livestock but I'm more concerned how it happened!

 

[kevgib67]

Do you have any nassarius snails? I put my first in and they were immediately all over it, it made it but it is behind my rock work with its beautiful crown facing my back wall. The only one to appreciate it is me. So I got another to try and keep it in front of the rock facing the front glass. Immediately my nassarius snails were all over it. It released it’s crown, a protective measure but they never stopped and it was gone. I guess a long way to ask if you have nassarius snails.

 

[Pastronomer]

Do you have any nassarius snails? I put my first in and they were immediately all over it, it made it but it is behind my rock work with its beautiful crown facing my back wall. The only one to appreciate it is me. So I got another to try and keep it in front of the rock facing the front glass. Immediately my nassarius snails were all over it. It released it’s crown, a protective measure but they never stopped and it was gone. I guess a long way to ask if you have nassarius snails.

I do, 3 of them, but have done for as long as the FD has been there. I've not seen them on it as they're normally just in the sand bed doing Nassarius Snail things.

Are they known to cause this sort of issue?

Strange to say a worm is beautiful but I 100% agree when they are out fully swaying in the flow.

 

[kevgib67]

Ya, I was just describing what occurred in my tank. I thought it was odd since nassarius snails are scavengers not predators. If I hadn’t seen it I would have never believed it. Perhaps a one off. Either way I give up on adding another, not sure why they now leave my one in the back of the tank alone. Your fish are not suspect. Did you start with live rock? Perhaps a missed mantis or pistol shrimp ( you would have heard that by now). A large crab such as a gorilla would be capable. I have about a dozen dwarf red and blue legged hermits and I doubt yours would be suspect. Just a theory, perhaps yours died of starvation, parameter changes, something in the water it was more sensitive to than any of your other live stock and what you saw what was left of the cuc doing it’s job.

 

[Pastronomer]

Ya, I was just describing what occurred in my tank. I thought it was odd since nassarius snails are scavengers not predators. If I hadn’t seen it I would have never believed it. Perhaps a one off. Either way I give up on adding another, not sure why they now leave my one in the back of the tank alone. Your fish are not suspect. Did you start with live rock? Perhaps a missed mantis or pistol shrimp ( you would have heard that by now). A large crab such as a gorilla would be capable. I have about a dozen dwarf red and blue legged hermits and I doubt yours would be suspect. Just a theory, perhaps yours died of starvation, parameter changes, something in the water it was more sensitive to than any of your other live stock and what you saw what was left of the cuc doing it’s job.

It makes sense that it died before the cuc got hold of it, they move so fast into their tubes I always assumed that they'd be fairly resilient to all but the fastest of predators.

The only other crab I have in the tank is an emerald crab, but they move in slow motion so again wouldn't suspect anything.

I didn't consider death then cuc eating bits of it, but now you say it, it does make sense.

 

[kevgib67]

It makes sense that it died before the cuc got hold of it, they move so fast into their tubes I always assumed that they'd be fairly resilient to all but the fastest of predators.

The only other crab I have in the tank is an emerald crab, but they move in slow motion so again wouldn't suspect anything.

I didn't consider death then cuc eating bits of it, but now you say it, it does make sense.

That has to be the only conclusion if you didn’t start with live rock and nothing hitchhicked in. Best of luck, give it some time and give it a go again. Merry Christmas.

 

[kjkszpj9]

My hermit crabs always troll my featherduster worm by climbing on his tube so it bends and falls down then the worm just kindof accepts it and sits with its feathers out on the ground then after some time the hermit leaves.