Anyone ever get stung by a bristleworm?

[liquidreamer]

Just wondering - you always hear about them but never anyone getting stung. After pulling an eight-incher 8O out of my 12g nano tonight and putting him to rest, I was looking at his bristles wondering if he stings. I heard that the bright red ones or at least a few other species sting, but didn't know if the common brown/orange with the white bristles do. Has anyone had an unpleasant experience moving some LR or something?

 

[MarineFlake]

Its not so much a sting as it is like working with raw carbon fiber or fiberglass. The bristles become lodged in your skin and irritates. It lasts about a day or 2 for me. Barring an alergic reaction, theres no real harm. I guess it sounds better to say 'stung' rather then I got 'stuck' by a bristle worm...

GL

 

[Scottm]

some of them are venomous. Some possess hollow spines on their legs called setae that cause burning swelling and numbness. two species that are poisonous are Eurytoe Complanata (orange fire worm) and Hermidice Carunculata (green fire worm) both of which are found in waters off of florida the gulf of mexico and the caribean. So I would say it is quit possible to get some of these species in live rock. I also imagine that there are other venomous species from all over the world. guess who just studied this in biology.....