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Does my dwarf cerith have a snoot, or is this weirdo a worm? With bonus hairy worm things


Lula_Mae

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Hi all, 

While doing some tanky things I came across a couple of oddballs and need help to definitively id them. I found a dwarf cerith shell in the sand I was cleaning (just got a batch from Reef Cleaners) but there was a long snoot or worm or something extending and retracting from the opening. It's grayish and sometimes you can see a little white blob or stripe move along the inside to the end, poke out and then retract. Peanut worm maybe? Or something else? 20181022_095807.thumb.jpg.4912fbf80ae44178f6031d7151c456f0.jpg

 

You can see the white line near the end in this pic. 

20181022_100219.thumb.jpg.b1cd49393b4a314e2cf1b26ecb535acb.jpg

 

20181022_100216.thumb.jpg.c81d2b6962885a8e50cb48bdd16d8b27.jpg

 

 

I also have these worms and can't decide if they are spaghetti worms or hair worms. The dark part is the main body, the yellow orange part is a bunch of tentacle-type things that will come out of the sand and reach for food. The tentacle things are lightly striped/ banded in a darker color.  @teenyreef, do these look like your evil hair worms?20181022_095416.thumb.jpg.59950526b632e8bc0ce6cc1360a5a196.jpg

 

20181022_100303.thumb.jpg.7391cf2bc74f1f578d318c7a366249ba.jpg

 

I have a video too, I'll try to upload. 

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Yeah, I dunno. Never seen that before. I'll see if I can dig anything up for you. My guess is not a peanut worm. Moves way too fast. Peanut worms are very cautious, they only retract fast. I'll see if I can find anything for you.

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16 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

Yeah, I dunno. Never seen that before. I'll see if I can dig anything up for you. My guess is not a peanut worm. Moves way too fast. Peanut worms are very cautious, they only retract fast. I'll see if I can find anything for you.

Thanks, I've never had a peanut worm so I wasn't sure if it was that or something like a bobbit or eunice worm, or something else. 

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Well, as I mentioned in John,s tread, I may be wrong. Though it seems too fast for a peanut, there are many species of peanut worm. While I only found a description, it came with q pic. It was id'd as a peanut worm living in a shell. Here's the pic. Look similar?

 

worm_sipunculan_phascolion_strombus_12-09-14_1.jpg

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One easy way to tell. Try sacrificing another snail to it. If it takes the bait, then it's obvious you dont want it. If not, it may just be a harmless scavenger that found itself a nice double wide.

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11 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

Well, as I mentioned in John,s tread, I may be wrong. Though it seems too fast for a peanut, there are many species of peanut worm. While I only found a description, it came with q pic. It was id'd as a peanut worm living in a shell. Here's the pic. Look similar?

 

worm_sipunculan_phascolion_strombus_12-09-14_1.jpg

The two I have are gray but yes, it does look kind of like that!  And the little white line I described it can push all the way to the end and it comes out like a little crown or something, it was hard to see exactly as it's so small. 

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It was white and seemed even all the way around, no parts were obviously longer.  One interesting thing is that each of the shells has a small hole on the back side so if you're looking at the main opening, you can see right through the small hole.  Maybe I can get another pic.

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Just now, RayWhisperer said:

This is a larger species, but it gives you an idea.

69b65c553adbc79a818cc963dfd3683b.jpg

Yes it kind of looked like a tiny version of that crown.  Do peanut worms live wherever they can find a good spot?  I wonder if they found empty shells and settled there?

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Most live in sand, mud, or rock. I imagine they will live wherever they feel safe. If you look at the one in the shell that I posted, there is mud in there with it. I dont imagine it needs mud, though, if it's a type that lives in rock. The only peanut worms I've had were the common ones everybody seems to have. They live in the rock.  Like this pic. The crown isn't showing, but it has one. Yours is different in color, but that doesnt mean much. Different species, different color. 

naked_peanut_worm2.jpg

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3 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

Most live in sand, mud, or rock. I imagine they will live wherever they feel safe. If you look at the one in the shell that I posted, there is mud in there with it. I dont imagine it needs mud, though, if it's a type that lives in rock. The only peanut worms I've had were the common ones everybody seems to have. They live in the rock.  Like this pic. The crown isn't showing, but it has one. Yours is different in color, but that doesnt mean much. Different species, different color. 

naked_peanut_worm2.jpg

It did look a lot like that crown.  That's kind of cool!  Maybe I will put it in the little thing I set up for the hitchhiking hermit I don't want in my tanks lol.  That way I can keep a close eye on it.

 

While looking at ribbon worms, I came across this.

 

Naughty jokes aside, it's got some incredible footage of various worms in action, and the Christmas tree worm colonies at the beginning are amazing!

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Honestly, the holes could have come from something else that killed the snail. Not saying it wasnt the worm, just that I dont know. About the only way to be sure is to smash open a shell and see what the worm looks like. 

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21 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

Honestly, the holes could have come from something else that killed the snail. Not saying it wasnt the worm, just that I dont know. About the only way to be sure is to smash open a shell and see what the worm looks like. 

Very true.  Thanks for your help!  Fingers crossed it's a friendly critter lol.

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50 minutes ago, patback said:

I like oddball things. Good or bad, that thing would stay in the sump for sure.  

Yeah it is definitely not going in the displays haha.

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