Bristle or fire?

[JasonVH]

Is this a bristle or fire worm? This one seemed much wider bodied and a lot fuzzier than the other bristleworms in tank. Made the decision to catch it using tongs in case it was a fireworm that needed to be taken out. Unfortunately only got the head part.. does whatever this is regenerate after losing the head?

 

[Goaway]

I dont know what that is....

 

[Goaway]

If you got more... get rid of them

 

[TnFishwater98]

My guess. Is that the whole worm or a piece?

 

[JasonVH]

View attachment 3109832
My guess. Is that the whole worm or a piece?

I'll google them, thanks-. first reaction is not those, at least in person there wasn't a scaly appearance. It looks more like a "giant, super fuzzy bristleworm". The body was easily twice the width of the other bristleworms I've seen. The bristles looked ultra dense.

I'm not entirely sure, my guess is it's just the front end of the worm- it was just not willing to come out further despite trying to entice it with puffs of coral food. Grabbed and yanked with the tongs.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Is this a bristle or fire worm? This one seemed much wider bodied and a lot fuzzier than the other bristleworms in tank. Made the decision to catch it using tongs in case it was a fireworm that needed to be taken out. Unfortunately only got the head part.. does whatever this is regenerate after losing the head?

View attachment 3109824 View attachment 3109826 View attachment 3109827

Looks like there is algae in the bristles?… Or is that just the way the pic came out? From your new information, I would say this is a very small piece of the worm. (I don’t read directions well)… I just read your entire first post. Sorry I usually scan post and jump right to the pics… (It was my NYE resolution to get better at this ) So sounds like you decapitated / debutted it… I would have to see a larger specimen but looks kinda like the tip of the only fire worm I’ve personally experienced. My first tank BTW…

Might not be. Check out this small reference to see if it might help.

Worm Hitch Hikers

The identification of Worms found within live rock and live sand

chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net

 

[JasonVH]

Looks like there is algae in the bristles?… Or is that just the way the pic came out? From your new information, I would say this is a very small piece of the worm. (I don’t read directions well)… I just read your entire first post. Sorry I usually scan post and jump right to the pics… (It was my NYE resolution to get better at this ) So sounds like you decapitated / debutted it… I would have to see a larger specimen but looks kinda like the tip of the only fire worm I’ve personally experienced. My first tank BTW…View attachment 3109876
Might not be. Check out this small reference to see if it might help.

Worm Hitch Hikers

The identification of Worms found within live rock and live sand

chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net

Thanks for that page, still a bit unclear as pictures and vids of bristleworms generally have a similar body type- skinny, bristles on the sparse side- unlike the one caught today. From that section included above, it might not be a fireworm as the mouth looks different- I'll include a picture of the underside in the next post.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Thanks for that page, still a bit unclear as pictures and vids of bristleworms generally have a similar body type- skinny, bristles on the sparse side- unlike the one caught today. From that section included above, it might not be a fireworm as the mouth looks different- I'll include a picture of the underside in the next post.

Looks like it might be a a pretty fat worm. Drop a trap in tonight and see what you catch.

 

[JasonVH]

Updated with pictures of it dead/dying with the segmentation a bit more relaxed some time after the original pictures. Water is tap water- deliberately to both kill it and to get clearer pictures. Unfortunately it also formed a lot of bubbles..

First picture is of the underside with the presumed mouthparts visible. Second picture shows the setae a little better than the originals.

 

[JasonVH]

Looks like it might be a a pretty fat worm. Drop a trap in tonight and see what you catch.

Yeah probably need to do that to get it figured out. Sure wish it was captured intact. btw am colorblind, cannot tell if there's green on it, ha. There is some of the powdery type of algae present on the rocks though. This thing came out while feeding corals reefroids.

Besides from being fat, it's visibly a lot fuzzier than the other bristleworms- that's before capturing this part also. The setae didn't have the separation between them like on the 'regular' bristleworms. So that got me a little concerned after all the messages of 'you do not want fireworms' all over.