Crowns, bumps, and crabs....?

[fishgirl1]

I just bought 3 feather dusters from Saltwaterfish.com. One lost it's crown (which I hear is normal), one has a big growth on the side (what could it be??????), and one looks great but it doesn't retract when I move it around and a hermit crab is attacking it!!! So much so that the whole worm is moving....! Do hermit crabs eat feather duster worms???? Also, my peppermint shrimp went for the feather end of one of them but it retracted quickly. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[LeslieH]

The growth is on the side of the tube? It could be another sessile organism like a sponge or a tunicate. What does it look like?

Feather dusters are just nicely packaged hunks of meat as far as most crabs are concerned. Unless your hermits & shrimp get enough food to keep them satisfied the dusters will soon be history.