Anyone know what this scary black worm is?

[MMaz]

And is it really as evil as it looks? We found this when taking apart my tank in preparation for moving. Stretched to full length (when it was swimming in the styrofoam box we put it in) it was about 60cm! I'd had the tank for 3 years, presumably this thing had been in there the whole time, I guess hitchhiked as a small critter on a rock. I think it must be nocturnal, I wish I'd heard the podcasts about nightwatching much sooner. Any ideas beyond "evil black worm"? Thanks!

[Seahorsedreams]

Definately a eunice. Also called a bobbit worm. They are predatory in nature but usually for small invertes and shrimp. Do you know what region your rock came from?

[MMaz]

Thanks for the quick response! I guess if it eats mainly small inverts and shrimp, that explains why I didn't notice my fish or larger inverts disappearing. I think the rock came from SE Asia, probably Philippines or Indonesia. Do you know if it's normal that they get that big?

Thanks, Martha

[saxman]

hi Martha,

this is very normal...in fact, they can get quite a bit larger.

[MMaz]

Hmmm... then maybe I shouldn't have hurried its demise and buried it, instead I should have saved it for the new aquarium? We were so surprised by it, and moving the tank inhabitants was dificult enough as it was. Sounds like it wasn't as harmful as we assumed. Too bad I didn't know about this forum then. Thanks!

Martha

[3vilPuffin]

That looks like a milipede god its so cool the wide array of creatures in the ocean

[SoCalReefer]

Wow, that was cool! It probably looked really neat when it swam, too bad...R.I.P. lil guy, you were too beautiful for this world

[Seahorsedreams]

I think I would have removed him as well....

[3vilPuffin]

I prolly would have found a way to keep him maybe in his own tank that thing is too wicked awesome to simply get rid of

[Pescaiolo]

Fishbait! That's what I do with worms that get too big. :)

[MMaz]

Fishbait? I wish I'd thought of that. We're not near any ocean though, so I wonder if anything fresh-water would eat it? Anyway, too late. :cry: The strangest thing was thinking about it being there for 3 years without any human in the family knowing about it. If it hadn't taken us by surprise when we emptied the aquarium (of course in the middle of a busy move), we might have thought more about keeping it somewhere. Thanks everyone for the id and comments, the family feels much better about the creature now.

Martha

[CarmieJo]

I've seen a pix of one that was like 6 FEET long!

[Amphibious]

A LFS here, FL, was finding soft corals partially distroyed (eaten) for several years and couldn't figure out why, until they decided to tear the tank down in a small remodel job. a 4' worm like the one you pictured came out of a piece of LR, scaring the bejeezes out of the employee assigned the job. Since it's demise, no more injured softies. It's a good thing to get rid of, in my humble opinion.

[MMaz]

Okay, I feel better now. And now that I've told everyone at home that this was a SMALL one, they have mixed reactions. Half are glad and think it's kind of fun to have an adventure like that, and half think that suddenly keeping a reef aquarium isn't such a good idea if this kind of thing is normal. I've assured them I'll do more night-viewing now!

Thanks, Martha

P.S. I'm a Robert J. Sawyer fan, too.