Worm challenge for Leslie

Hey Leslie, here's one for you. This worm is about as fat as my thumb. It waved the feather-like things back and forth in synchrony.

This is from an aquarium so I can't be posative where it is from, but most of the rock in the tank was from indonesia so chances are that is where it is from.

p.s. It is not a man-eater is it? It scared the S$$t out of me when I accidentally picked it up. I thought it was an eel (much less scary than a worm.....

Looks a lot like the ones we have down the beach where I live.

If it is then the blunt end hides a fine pair of pinchers which can give you quite a nip.

LESLIE - DON'T READ ANY FURTHER

If you like a bit of fishing they make excellent bait.......

Paul C

You guys and your worm phobias! Filming a shark frenzy from 2 feet away is fine but one little worm and you're sweating & hyperventilating......

It's the rear end of an eunicid, probably genus Eunice, and a smaller (and less predatory) relative of the worm named for the infamous Lorena Bobbit and her scissors. The small ones are generally okay in a tank but the larger ones (reported up to 7 feet in tanks http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_worm.htm) will eat corals. The feathery things are the branchiae (= gills) and the synchronized beating drives fresh oxygenated water through their tubes.

Thanks for the warning, Paul. I am, however, well aware of man's inhumanity to worms and in fact am one of the prime instigators of genocide on the vermiform inhabitants of the world.

Thanks Leslie. Yep, I admit to having a worm phobia. No sweating or hyperentilating but I was fine when I thought I was chasing down an eel with my hands. But when I saw it was a worm I immediately jumped back dropped it and ran to get a net.

the rear end of a eunclid

So you're saying that this is only half of it? If that's the case, the bigger one I found stuck in a rock was actually just the other half.....

Paul, I'd use it for bait, but I dont think I could bring my self to touch it again to get it on a hook.

Sounds like girls & spiders. So what is it about worms? Did a bully force you to eat some when you were a kid?

The big one could have been the other half or another one altogether. It's not uncommon for reef rocks to have 1000s of worms - most quite small - living in crevices, on algae, and among the epifauna.

I don't like spiders either.

Most worms don't bother me. But most worms (at least the one's I come across) arn't a foot long and as fat as my thumb.

I am with William - cautious about worms one foot long.

To be fair I am even more scared of the Bobbit reference ( and without any prior warning as well ). Almost enough to ensure I give up worm abuse....

Paul C