How to rid zoanthid eating worm?

[Jagermeister]

About 6 months ago I bought a nice zoanthid covered rock. Since then the zoanthids have been slowly disappearing. After monitoring the rock for a couple of nights with the red lights on I noticed a small brown worm emerging from one of the holes in the rocks and picking pieces off of each zoanthid polyp.

The worm is approximately 1/10" in diameter and doesn't move in the wriggling, undulating fashion of other worms such as bristle worms. Rather, it moves by expanding and contracting itself, much like an accordian. As it nears a polyp a circular ring of small white bristles (looks alot like a tube worm head) emerges and grabs the polyp.

I've tried numerous times to catch the guy with a pair of scissor clamps, but when I get anywhere near him he seems to 'sense' somethings not right and retracts with lightning speed back into his hole.

I'm looking for some ideas of what kind of worm this might be so I can start to research and possibly ID it. Basically, I need a starting point. Also, any ideas of how to rid this guy. I'm worried about him finishing off the polyps on the current rock and moving on to my other zoanthid colonies.

Maybe the best course of action is taking a loss on the zoanthids and mushrooms on the rock and banishing it to the sump rather than risking this guy getting ahold of the other colonies?

Thanks for any help.

[rshimek]

Hi,

Well, it sounds like a polychaete worm, but it may not be. And which type is not clear at all. About the only thing I would suggest is to mark the hole it retracts into. Then remove the rock from the tank and, over a bucket or such, pour some carbonated water into the hole. That generally causes worms to "bail out."

If you can get the worm out, I would love to see it and identify it it. You could send it to me. Alternatively, if you could get some good clear images of the front end as well as the whole worm, I might be able to identify it from them.

Sounds like a very interesting animal. :D