XXL Bristleworm or fireworm?

[Miami Reef]

Someone please identify this very large worm I caught from my 260 reef tank.

Will it eat corals or not?

Edit: it‘s in a 10 gal tank in these pictures.

 

[_Grim_Reefer]

Fireworm

 

[Miami Reef]

@EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

I’m leaning toward a harmless bristleworm. Do you agree?

 

[Spare time]

Fireworms are much more colorful and unmistakable from my experience. Bristle worms too can get massive.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'd lean toward Eurythoe sp. such as Eurythoe complanata - a fireworm:

I'm thinking it may be a Eurythoe sp. fireworm such as Eurythoe complanata; if so, it's not reef-safe, as it may eat sedentary inverts (including corals, though they should prefer other foods over corals):

they prefer other foods first, so they shouldn't cause problems unless they're underfed or their population gets out of hand.

Yeah, to my knowledge pretty much anything that might be called a fireworm (genera Hermodice and Eurythoe) are coral or other sedentary invertebrate eaters - that said, the way they eat is pretty abnormal:

"Fireworms are voracious predators that feed on soft and hard corals, anemones, and small crustaceans. They engulf the last few centimeters of the tip of a branching coral, such as Acropora cervicornis (staghorn coral), in its inflated pharynx and remove the coral tissue right from the skeleton. They typically spend 5-10 minutes at each branch tip, visiting several, and the “skinned” branches are apparent by their white ends."
Source:

https://www.marinebio.org/species/bearded-fireworms/hermodice-carunculata/

That said, fireworms are opportunistic scavengers that eat pretty much anything they can get, though at least some of them seem to have a strong preference for fish - importantly, they also lack teeth, so they won't be preying actively on any fish in your tank; they have to be able to fit the entire piece they're eating in their mouth.

Tough, armed and omnivorous: Hermodice carunculata (Annelida: Amphinomidae) is prepared for ecological challenges | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

Tough, armed and omnivorous: Hermodice carunculata (Annelida: Amphinomidae) is prepared for ecological challenges - Volume 97 Issue 5

www.cambridge.org

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[Miami Reef]

I saw a worm eating a coral in the middle of the night almost a year ago.

I always assumed it was a fireworm.

 

[Miami Reef]

I'd lean toward Eurythoe sp. such as Eurythoe complanata - a fireworm:

How can I remove them all? Any predators?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I saw a worm eating a coral in the middle of the night almost a year ago.

I always assumed it was a fireworm.

Yeah, that would probably be a safe assumption.

 

[StatelineReefer]

How can I remove them all? Any predators?

Us... and other non-coral-safe fishes. For something that large a baited bottle trap is thw answer.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

How can I remove them all? Any predators?

I doubt you'll get them all, but you really just need to keep the population in check (as mentioned, they're fine/beneficial to the tank in manageable numbers; they should only cause problems if they don't have enough food available).

I know some crabs will eat them, so something like an Arrow Crab may work.

 

[Slocke]

Dragon wrasse will decimate them but they are also terrors.

 

[Miami Reef]

(as mentioned, they're fine/beneficial to the tank in manageable numbers; they should only cause problems if they don't have enough food available).

It’s a catch 22. In order to prevent them eating my corals I need to feed them enough, but that will encourage them to reproduce more. Then I need to feed even more to supply the higher population to prevent them from eating my corals, but then that will make them reproduce even more.

Eventually some will go hungry with not enough food, and they will resort to the corals.

I need to find a way to limit their population overtime (not nuclear). I think the best way is the bottle traps and maybe add an arrowhead crab, too. :)

I don’t have evidence, but I think another worm took a bite from another euphyllia a few days ago. It randomly looked like it was chewed on overnight.

 

[Slocke]

It’s a catch 22. In order to prevent them eating my corals I need to feed them enough, but that will encourage them to reproduce more. Then I need to feed even more to supply the higher population to prevent them from eating my corals, but then that will make them reproduce even more.

Eventually some will go hungry with not enough food, and they will resort to the corals.

I need to find a way to limit their population overtime (not nuclear). I think the best way is the bottle traps and maybe add an arrowhead crab, too. :)

I don’t have evidence, but I think another worm took a bite from another euphyllia a few days ago. It randomly looked like it was chewed on overnight.

Come to the dark side!

 

[StatelineReefer]

Come to the dark side!

Don't do it. That thing is literally Gyrados.

 

[Miami Reef]

Come to the dark side!

That looks scarier than the fireworm. Hard pass lol.

 

[stoney7713]

I got an arrow crab around the beginning of August, they grow super fast, mine was about the size of a quarter now he's larger than my hand.

I have also noticed a reduction in bristle worms. I still feed him pieces of shrimp a few times a week. I don't need him starving and desperate. There are some rare reports of them eating CUC and even small fish, but it's very rare.

For the record I have not had any problems yet. He walks on the corals and picks around the skeletons, it doesn't phase them at all. Oh I have also noticed him eating tuffs of algae.

 

[Miami Reef]

I purchased this trap:

Bristle Worm Trap with Window (Black) Amazon product ASIN B09D2JPDTD

I got about 6-10 of those large bristle worms within 1.5 weeks.

Unfortunately, the worms are only getting harder to catch, and they’ve started becoming very destructive.

I recently purchased a yellow halichoeres wrasse. One day I noticed fireworm bristles all over its face and dorsal spine. It died about 2 days later.

Today my royal gramma fish has the same bristle spines all over its face and “chin.”

I’m afraid it won’t make it either. I wish there was a chemical that can eliminate all fireworms. I REGRET ever adding KP rocks. It was the biggest mistake I’ve made. I never dealt with bristle worms before. They are destroying some of my Frogspawn, hammer, and torch frags. Now they are messing with my fish.

 

[stoney7713]

Arrow Crab with a bristle worm.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I purchased this trap:

Bristle Worm Trap with Window (Black) Amazon product ASIN B09D2JPDTD

I got about 6-10 of those large bristle worms within 1.5 weeks.

Unfortunately, the worms are only getting harder to catch, and they’ve started becoming very destructive.

I recently purchased a yellow halichoeres wrasse. One day I noticed fireworm bristles all over its face and dorsal spine. It died about 2 days later.

Today my royal gramma fish has the same bristle spines all over its face and “chin.”

I’m afraid it won’t make it either. I wish there was a chemical that can eliminate all fireworms. I REGRET ever adding KP rocks. It was the biggest mistake I’ve made. I never dealt with bristle worms before. They are destroying some of my Frogspawn, hammer, and torch frags. Now they are messing with my fish.

I'm so sorry! I guess I need to research live rock vendors again...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I never dealt with bristle worms before

While all fire worms are bristleworms, not all bristleworms are fireworms. IME, the ones that only come out at night (or possibly right after feeding the tank) are harmless. If they are out when the lights are on, "prowling" the tank, then they're definitely bad guys.

How long ago did you add the live rock?

(And I'm sorry, I somehow missed the tag from a couple weeks ago!)