red worm but not bristle?

[marc nichols]

After the halides went off, I noticed a proliferation of red lumps on the surface of the sand bed. They each seem to form a loop and had cilia like tentacles, for lack of a better word. I scooped one out with a net and it was 1.5" long, pointed on both ends round and thick. It had long threadlike "tentacles", perhaps a quarter inch tapering/shorter toward each end of the worm.

I don't know how to post an image here, so hopefully someone can id with just this.

[AFL]

I can't help with the ID, but it sounds like one I saw and have a pic of. Did they look anything like this?

It's one small worm, in this pic all rolled up. It seemed to move around the sandbed by rolling up, then unrolling.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NzNMCRdavzk/SoxhPgGfPPI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/ecD7RQb0sC4/s400/worm.jpg

[marc nichols]

Yes, looks like it.

I took one to our local Aquarium Society meeting and one of the members called it a spaghetti worm, a name I'm not familiar with. In any case, he said a safe substrate cleaning organism which seems to be the case.

If there is any other info out there, I'd be interested.

AFL, thanks for the image.

[charlesr1958]

Please check this link:

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchhikers.html

Chuck

[marc nichols]

excellent resource. read it and saved the site. Thank you.