Sun coral help

[Waynage01]

anybody know what my sun coral is doing. One polyp opened this morning and it's mouth opened really wide. Never seen it like this before. It almost looked like it had something inside that not wanted out


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[Waynage01]

Update. I sucked this worm out of the mouth of the sun coral. Question now is do I put the worm back in or get rid


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[Dallascowboys16]

Update. I sucked this worm out of the mouth of the sun coral. Question now is do I put the worm back in or get ridView attachment 272723


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I honestly can't tell what it is but if it was irritating your sun coral I would not put it back in. Hopefully someone with some more expertise on this subject will chime in as well.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Looks like a Brislteworm, if he was in the coral, he was eating dead tissue or something that the corals was eating, trying to steal it. If it is indeed a Bristleworm, you can throw him back in, because there are plenty more where he came from.

 

[Waynage01]

Thanks for the reply. The sun coral polyp is a lot happier now the worms out. I think it is a bristle worm so have thrown it back in. I've never seen the mouth of the polyp as wide as it was when the worm was in there.


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[dingusplease]

Hate to be the bearer of (possibly) not so great news, but I think that may be a detritus worm. It looks a bit long and thin to be a bristle, but it could still be one.

Detritus worms thrive on too much food in an aquarium, and can also eat coral (I spent half an hour pulling one out of my xenia.) They're not the worst, but can be a nuisance if you have enough to hurt a lot of coral. Just something to be aware of!

 

[Waynage01]

Bad news is always welcome to me. It all helps. If I see it again out it comes to be safe. Shame that was the best picture I could get. Was taken on iPhone....


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[mr_X]

Detritus worm? I've never heard of a worm called that. Bristle worms do eat detritus, however.

 

[dingusplease]

Detritus worm was just what a member on RC called it, never really looked into it until now. Apparently detritus worms can often actually be Syllidae, which normally don't seriously harm the creatures they feed on. Here's a thread with some good info, especially post #6:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=849501