Can You ID This Worm?

[HowardW]

It's body is white and maybe 4" long or so with 2 dark spots (eyes?) at one end, and when disturbed it looks like blood pulsing up and down the center of its body. I captured it this morning with one end of it attached to the mouth of one of my ricordeas on the sand bed!


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/hhh007/P1010003.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/hhh007/P1010002.jpg

[Aquabucket]

At first it looks like a harmless bristleworm but the head concerns me a bit. I would not trust it unless Leslie the worm expert or someone else says otherwise.

[HowardW]

I dunno, it looks a lot more stout then the common bristleworms I've ever seen and this ones body is all white, and that pulsing thing is really strange.


edited to add: After viewing a video on Melevs website, maybe it is a bristleworm?

[LeslieH]

Harmless and was probably going to be the ricordea's breakfast. It's in the polychaete family Nereididae and is an epitoke. Epitokes are sexually mature animals (or parts of them) that are modified for spawning. Many nereid epitokes swim up into the water to release their eggs & sperm. During the process some of them will end up as food for inverts & fish.

[HowardW]

Ok thanks! :)