Another worm for Leslie!

[yardboy]

I bought a wild caught sps colony which started stn'ing soon after I got it. Before it completely died I got it and cut frags off, but a bunch of these worms fell out of the dead parts. Not sure if they contributed or were just hanging on for the food. Might be some kind of bristleworm, but I sure didn't put them in my refugium, which is where unknowns usually go.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/yardboy/wormsonadyingspscolony.jpg

[LeslieH]

That's a small eunicid polychaete. Just about any rock or coral base in the wild will have a few up to thousands of these living in it. They appear to be switch hitters as far as feeding goes. The diet switches as they grow larger and they can switch feeding modes depending on what's available: carnivore, grazer, detritivore, etc. It's thought that the small one are reef safe. Once they get up to a couple of feet there's not going to be enough food for them & they'll start eating healthy corals. That's not always the case. Some reefers have caught them eating corals but others are completely unaware of them (which meant no coral damage) until they break down their systems & find a 6-footer living in it.

[yardboy]

Thanks so much Leslie!
So I can look forward to a huge one when I rearrange the tank, eh?!

[LeslieH]

You never know until you do it!
:)