Bristleworm damages coral

[Brad]

I didn't believe it until I caught him in the act. This bristleworm was sucking on one of my corals (well..I think it's a coral...if you know what it is, please tell)

He can't really bite off a piece, so he just latches onto a peak and sucks on it for an hour or so. He can only attach on the peaks.

The "coral" in question is yellow/orange and "C" shaped in this photo. It is difficult to see, but the bristleworm is attached to the coral near the top of the "C" You can see his earlier damage as white areas on the lower part. The spot where his is attached in this photo now looks exactly like those other white spots, so he is definitely the culprit.

You can also see where the coral looks more whitish in the areas where the bristleworm has recently crawled. As it crawls over, the coral withdraws it's spikes and loses it's yellow colour.

I'm not going to hurry to try to remove all the bristleworms from my tank...they're part of the ecosystem and that's what they do. My advice: Keep them well fed.

 

[quarryshark]

Wow, I have more than a few in my system. Good thing I don't have coral.
Will keep this in mind. Thanks!!

 

[steve-s]

That's also not your common bristleworm, it's a fireworm and they are well known for damaging corals. They are very opportunistic feeders.

Cheers
Steve

 

[darb2]

Ok, now I am concerned. I assumed that a fireworm had some red on it. But I think I saw one over the weekend. Is there a was to positively ID them? And If it is what is the best way to remove them?

 

[indy]

A few links about the fireworm and bristle worms.
http://www.thekrib.com/Marine/bristle.html
http://www.msnusers.com/MarineReefAquariums/bristleworms.msnw

Good picture on this one.
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/marinetank58.html

I have seen arrow crabs munching on bristle worms and they seem to be a natural part of their diet.

 

[steve-s]

The links provided by Indy will help alot but the easiest way to ID a fireworm is by their more prominent setae. The "bristles" will be longer and somtimes bushier than common worms.

Cheers
Steve

 

[malkore]

rats..i have at least 1 fireworm in my tank! next time I see him, he's a gonner!

 

[Nanoreefer]

careful not to touch it, I was stung and i could feel the spine in my finger for over a day.

 

[RMeyer]

You will need all the luck you can get, they are fast and swell up in their holes and break real easy. Mine came with LR I caught about 20 total. I then noticed that 1 live rock seemed to "house" more than the rest of my LR I removed about a 5# piece of rock broke it open and could not count how many worm in that one piece. Worm traps did not really work for me but its a option. So I tried to catch them at night with a red lens flash light and forceps. Just a newbee 2 cents

 

[Brad]

The damage done by that particular bristleworm is healing reasonable quickly. It takes about 1 week for the coral pictured to recover.

 

[steve-s]

I caught about 20 total. I then noticed that 1 live rock seemed to "house" more than the rest of my LR I removed about a 5# piece of rock broke it open and could not count how many worm in that one piece.

I wouldn't suggest removing every worm you see in the tank. Most in fact are harmless and add to a healthy ecosystem. Fireworms are usually few a far between depending on where the rock originated from. Unless you can possitively ID the worm as dangerous (usually quite visually different), then I would leave them be.

Cheers
Steve

 

[klam]

That sucks to have a coral eating bristle worm. I guess your chances might be good in winning the lottery.
Try to pull it out by grabbing the upper portion. If you rip it's head off in the process the body can't regenerate but the head can regenerate a new body. That's what I remember reading somewhere. Not sure though. I guess I wasn't any help.
good luck

 

[RMeyer]

Most in fact are harmless and add to a healthy ecosystem

I agree but that many some need to be moved as well they were bugging a large blue mushroom colony that I had end result colonly spilt and about a quarter of my shroom died. Still had plenty of worms running around at night.

 

[Electrobes]

heh its really fun to watch a mantis shrimp eat one of these guys.. I pitted a very thick one about 6-7 inches long versus a baby mantis shrimp, about 2 inches long, and man did the mantis feast!

 

[Brad]

I caught mine in the act of sucking on that same piece of coral again...so now he's going to be living out his life in the sump. I could have put him in with the mantis...maybe I'll save that bit of excitement for a time when we have guests over.

"Hey..don't watch the movie..come look at THIS!!"