Goniopora Worm?

[JoshF7]

New large goniopora in my frag tank QT was fine for weeks, but has not been extending the last few days. Dipped it and found a few of these worms (see pic, not mine but one I found online that was better than I could get, but exactly this same worm). Wondering if I have a big problem here, or if these are more of an irritant than an eater of the coral? Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

I would make a wild guess at some type of bobbit, but that is wild.See if maybe someone else knows

 

[JoshF7]

I would make a wild guess at some type of bobbit, but that is wild.See if maybe someone else knows

Thanks for the reply. Whatever it was (there were two on mine) it has been removed after dipping and is now dead, and the coral has definitely improved. I just wish I knew what the heck it was.

 

[MartinM]

My goniopora has one also. You did a freshwater dip?

 

[JoshF7]

My goniopora has one also. You did a freshwater dip?

No, Coral Rx dip for me.

 

[alecj]

just found one on my goni not sure what it is but it was ticking off the goni

 

[krissiRLT]

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but wanted to document another occurrence of this. I saw a hole in my goni and it was ticked off for a week and then started bleaching. I’ve heard of burrowing worms in gonis so I popped it off the frag tile and when I did the rock under it just exploded in half and there were two worms living inside the rock and burrowing up into the Goni. One was pretty large and the other very small. I got a picture, but it looked a lot like the worm you posted here. Smooth, not bristley. Moved a lot, writhing more like a snake than a bristle worm.

.

 

[krissiRLT]

Got some better photos. They seem to make a calcified shell similar to a tube worm but completely inside the rock or Goni skeleton.

 

[VintageReefer]

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but wanted to document another occurrence of this. I saw a hole in my goni and it was ticked off for a week and then started bleaching. I’ve heard of burrowing worms in gonis so I popped it off the frag tile and when I did the rock under it just exploded in half and there were two worms living inside the rock and burrowing up into the Goni. One was pretty large and the other very small. I got a picture, but it looked a lot like the worm you posted here. Smooth, not bristley. Moved a lot, writhing more like a snake than a bristle worm.

.

Looks to be a syllidae worm and one you can chuck.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Got some better photos. They seem to make a calcified shell similar to a tube worm but completely inside the rock or Goni skeleton.

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

I would guess a Lumbrinerid worm of some variety - I know at least one species of Lumbrinerid (Helmutneris flabellicola) has been known to build mucus tubes inside of corals attached to (wrapped around) the corallum of the coral (Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) quadragenaria).

To quote about their diet:
"most lumbrinerids are carnivores on both sessile and motile prey, with a few herbivorous and subsurface deposit-feeding exceptions"*

The carnivorous ones tend to eat things like bivalves, snails, other worms, brittle starfish, and occasionally Heart Urchins (Spatangoida). The herbivorous ones feed on diatoms, sea grass, etc.

*Source:
Diet of Worms Emended: An Update of Polychaete Feeding Guilds - Appendix A - Family-by-Family Review
(The paper)
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-marine-010814-020007(The link you can download the Appendix from)
https://www.annualreviews.org/conte...nurev-marine-010814-020007#supplementary_data

 

[krissiRLT]

hmmm it lived in a tube inside the coral ?

@ISpeakForTheSeas

Here are some pictures of its calcified looking home inside the rock/skeleton. 2 different gonis that were in 2 different tanks and also both quarantined and dipped multiple times.

 

[47aquatics]

Here are some pictures of its calcified looking home inside the rock/skeleton. 2 different gonis that were in 2 different tanks and also both quarantined and dipped multiple times.

Ye I just had to cut apart my red yellow eyed Goni on the wet saw into 4 pieces to get one of these guys out - he had burrowed within the skeleton and the Goni had stopped opening (originally spotted him at night peaking out of a small hole) just put the new frags back in hopefully they recover

 

[IKD]

Ye I just had to cut apart my red yellow eyed Goni on the wet saw into 4 pieces to get one of these guys out - he had burrowed within the skeleton and the Goni had stopped opening (originally spotted him at night peaking out of a small hole) just put the new frags back in hopefully they recover

Old thread, but wondered if your Goni frags recovered. I’m seeing a similar issue with worms that burrowed into the skeleton. Anyone find a treatment that is effective at killing these when they are inside the skeleton of the coral?

 

[Naso180!]

Let's revisit this once more. Found another type possible a round worm but cant seem to get a positive ID. However standard coral dips like Coral RX, Revive didn't do much. It took KCl followed by H20 to kill it. Tough as heck little critters. Any thoughts on what this might be? Note the zooxanthellae in the body cavity as well as coming from the mouth.