fish bites worm... [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community Archives

Sk8r

06/12/2006, 03:55 PM

Well, I have finally had one of my bristleworms do damage to a fish, but I'm not sure but what the fish had it coming and I don't know the condition of the worm. My purple firefish has a faceful of whiskers this afternoon, and I'm pretty sure he had a run-in with one of the big fellows that inhabit one of my middle rocks---where the firefish also hangs---in mouth of the yellow watchman's burrow. This firefish is a bossy sort, and I have a feeling push came to shove and the firefish bit him.
The fish is eating as if nothing is wrong. I hope the bristles biodegrade sooner or later.

Anemone

06/12/2006, 06:04 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7546823#post7546823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
I hope the bristles biodegrade sooner or later.

They do. I had a sohal tang that got an eyeful of bristles. Two weeks later there was a slight haze to the eye, but all the bristles were gone. Sohal recoverd fully.

FWIW,
Kevin

Sk8r

06/12/2006, 06:07 PM

Oh, good! I was wondering if I needed to invest in a cleaner shrimp. Right now he looks as if he needed a shave in the worst way.

catdoc

06/13/2006, 06:19 AM

My female onyx clown had a bad run-in with a fireworm (yeah, the BAD kind!). She was trying to defend her bta b/c the fireworm was eating it. Luckily, I happened to see it happening and captured the fireworm but not before she got a faceful of bristles. The bristles were gone the next day and the worm got sent to Dr Ron. (He took some nice pics of it, in my gallery.)

KDodds

06/13/2006, 07:01 AM

I've seen this many times, never to any ill effect on the part of the fish. The "toxin" in the bristles is an irritant, not fatal in the least. At most, they could make a small fish very uncomfortable for a few hours. The bristles are Calcium carbonate and dissolve readily into the body. By themselves, they're annoying (believe me, I've had more than my fair share embedded in my hands), but harmless. IME, those fish most prone to being bristled are those that sleep on or in the sand bed (like many Wrasses), or those that consume bristleworms (like some Dottybacks).