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View Full Version : OMG OMG OMG (hitchhiker)

TheORKINMan
09/24/2008, 07:59 PM
This is WAY too fast and small to get a picture, I was using the flashlight to check around my tank today as I put in a new small piece of LR and a cheato ball, as well as a pistol shrimp today

When I looked around with my light a white worm is free swimming around in the tank by jiggling really fast, it's about a quarter inch long. Sound familiar to anyone?
wshfulthkn
09/24/2008, 08:20 PM
maybe one of these
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html
Tang Salad
09/24/2008, 08:36 PM
No, not a flatworm. I know the ones TheORKINMan is talking about. But I have no idea what they are. I have a video of one I'll try to find.
unbreakable
09/24/2008, 08:42 PM
bristle worm. at a certain stage they do this, i forget. ive seen them swim around like this before and freaked me out as well
Tang Salad
09/24/2008, 08:43 PM
See if this is it.
LINK (http://img531.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7301395yi0.flv)

Oh, and mute your volume!
Outerbank
09/24/2008, 09:42 PM
I have those white worms. Any idea what they are? I have been assuming they are good.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13420043#post13420043 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tang Salad
See if this is it.
LINK (http://img531.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7301395yi0.flv)

Oh, and mute your volume!
InsaneClownFish
09/24/2008, 09:47 PM
Yup bristle worm. They wiggle out into the water column during a spawning event.
TheORKINMan
09/24/2008, 09:52 PM
haha okay I DO have lots of harmless bristles, so that's probably what it is, I saw one shoot out some white milky stuff too so that's probably wh ats going on.
TheORKINMan
09/24/2008, 09:52 PM
and yes, that video is exactly whati t looks like
Tang Salad
09/24/2008, 10:00 PM
Cool. Glad we got some confirmation.

But are we sure these are larval bristleworms? I always assumed they were the larvae of something...but...can anyone confirm this?
Tang Salad
09/25/2008, 08:01 AM
Bump!

Can anyone confirm that's a larval bristleworm?
rssjsb
09/25/2008, 09:20 AM
Yes, I believe it's called an epitoke.
justinl
09/25/2008, 11:04 AM
no not larval. It is the breeding stage of many annelid worms called an epitoke. They swim up and release gametes into the current. swimming up into the column helps spread the gametes out better than if they sat on the bottom.
will16
09/25/2008, 11:19 AM
Yep.. epitoke. Saw the same thing in my tank but I managed to catch it for ID.

If you want a closer look, this is what they look like (looks green in these pics from the lighting but look white in the tank)

http://www.pbase.com/willgtp/image/96914171.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/willgtp/image/96914173.jpg