Need help with identification.Rare Sea slug, sea mouse, bristle worm?

[DawnfromPa]

Ok..So we broke down a 90 gallon tank 2 plus months ago and left a small sand bed and water. Sold the tank and getting ready to clean it out and I find this copper to gold color wormy thing (which is hard to capture in pics and video). I will post pics from my phone..

It is covered in hair completely on the top like a sea mouse, segmented like a worm and resembles an arctic species in color but there is no head with teeth like the arctic variety. Is it a rare species?
Scale worm?
Bristle worm?
Sea slug?
Sea mouse? Idk...

The hairy worm from Brisbane looks similar. Is this a rare sea mouse? The coloration is beautiful.

 

[DawnfromPa]

 

[DawnfromPa]

I

 

[Tahoe61]

Scale Worm perhaps.

 

[reef lover]

I lean towards scale worm myself...kinda neat looking.

 

[Auquanut]

Really cool. Friend or foe?

 

[Phildago]

Holy jehova, that thing is crazy looking. Like an alien. Very cool find.

Sorry I can't help much on the ID but thank you for posting some cool pics

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Never seen anything like that before. I would love to know what it is.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

+1though it does look like a scale worm

Holy jehova, that thing is crazy looking. Like an alien. Very cool find.

Sorry I can't help much on the ID but thank you for posting some cool pics

 

[DawnfromPa]

Thanks for all the replies. If he survives..I will put him in my sump.

 

[NanoDJS]

Polynoidae , and put it in the dumpster , its a species of fireworm .

 

[NanoDJS]

As a rule of thumb if the bristles on a worm are contiguous, and its small its just a detritus eater, If the bristles come from round "holders" that are spaced out evenly with no bristles in between , and fatter / wider it is a fireworm and will sting you and your coral , these are active hunters. There are alot of types of these Polychaete type worms, but that is the best id methodology I can come up with to determine , toss or keep. I dont like any of them . If you have pods , the bristles just eat their food anyhow . So I cannot understand why some people think they are good for a reef tank. Tisbee's will out eat detritous 10/1 over a bristleworm .

 

[DawnfromPa]

He has these little tube like feet that move him. I couldn’t capture that in the pic. I don’t know if that changes anything. I don’t know that he is going to make it. The salinity was so high in the tank he was in and he is not acclimating well. I took it extremely slow too.. It has been almost a whole day. So, he might be a goner.

 

[flsalty]

Lepidontus? I can't find any info that they sting anything, but they do eat small animals.

 

[DawnfromPa]

It sure does look a lot like that but it has a furry back. Looks like spun gold and copper.