Dallas Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 I have a question. Do bristle worms form caves? And do they eat coraline algae. I've seen this guy take some serious bites at the rock around his cave. He closes the opening to his cave with pieces of rock and shell. I also notice a bit more rock fragments on the sand bed. Is this possible or have I misidentified the critter? He looks like a bristle but has a little round head with 2 antenna. Coral is not disturbed. Should I feed the tank more to keep him happy? What's up! Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Doesn't sound like a bristle worm, neither the physical description or behaviour is a match. Can you snap a pic? I know it's hard to get pics of little buggers like this guy. I'm going to just throw a name out there based on what sounds like potential tunneling behaviour - Peanut Worm. They bore holes in LR, but I've never heard of them blocking the entrance ot their hole, and all you typically see is "dust" on the rock or substrate beneath their hole, not chunks of LR. this is by no means a positive ID, but you can probably find a photo of a peanut worm if you search around. Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Does it resemble any of the worms at this site: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/%7Esweetyummy42/hitchworms.html --Diane Link to comment
Dallas Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 Does it resemble any of the worms at this site: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/%7Esweetyummy42/hitchworms.html --Diane Found him -- thanks! A eunicid. Makes a rock burrow by gluing rocks together. He's walled up in there now. Outlined in this pic I took. Hope you can make it out. Link to comment
c est ma Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Dallas, That's what I had a hunch it might be from your original description, which was quite good! I was happy to read on that site (normally I just look at the pictures) that not all eunicids are bad news. I think you may hear that here, because apparently some ARE bad news. But there seem to be many different species, and the person who created that site seems to know what he's talking about, so you might as well assume you have one of the harmless ones unless something untoward happens. I think it's so cool how some of them barricade themselves in, and thanks for the pic of that. I appreciate my hitchhikers every bit as much as the specimens I buy, and it sounds as if you have a similar attitude. There's just so much marine biology to enjoy and appreciate. --Diane Link to comment
Dallas Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Dallas, That's what I had a hunch it might be from your original description, which was quite good! I was happy to read on that site (normally I just look at the pictures) that not all eunicids are bad news. I think you may hear that here, because apparently some ARE bad news. But there seem to be many different species, and the person who created that site seems to know what he's talking about, so you might as well assume you have one of the harmless ones unless something untoward happens. I think it's so cool how some of them barricade themselves in, and thanks for the pic of that. I appreciate my hitchhikers every bit as much as the specimens I buy, and it sounds as if you have a similar attitude. There's just so much marine biology to enjoy and appreciate. --Diane How true -- who would have thought an 8 gallon BioCube would have provided such pleasure and entertainment. Thanks for your help on euicids. Here's another specimen - a type of snail - I believe it's called a Stomatella but I have no resource to confirm it other than this forum which has been extremely helpful. I have two that hitched with the live rock and are large enough now to observe. Hopefully they are ok too. Here are a couple of pictures taken while it was in motion. They are hard to find when they're still and resting because they blend right in with the rock -- they can form into many shapes and even have a built-in camouflage of small reddish/purple patches and specks that match the rock perfectly. It does not appear to have a hard shell. Link to comment
c est ma Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Stomatella--great hh! Some links (but I've seen better pics from fellow nano-reefers!): http://www.melevsreef.com/id/stomatella.jpg http://www.reeflex.net/eng/71/741/Stomatella/sp.%2001.htm http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/snails/photoalb...view?b_start=11 --Diane Link to comment
Dallas Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Stomatella--great hh! Some links (but I've seen better pics from fellow nano-reefers!): http://www.melevsreef.com/id/stomatella.jpg http://www.reeflex.net/eng/71/741/Stomatella/sp.%2001.htm http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/snails/photoalb...view?b_start=11 --Diane You're good! These links are just what I was looking for. Thanks again! And happy reefing. Link to comment
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