Thats called a eunicid worm. I've got one in my tank, that is about 18" long... luckily it appears to be a detrius feeder. Mine is brown... I've also owned a black one that was about 15"... I think it was a coral eater, as it was pulled out of a coral propagation farm, and only lived when I had it for a couple months... I wasnt feeding it corals. Some can grow to I believe 30 or 40 feet? There are many kinds, some are predators, some eat corals, and others eat detrius. Characteristic thing to identify them is the 5 'antanae' on their head. Sometimes when 'cornered' or 'attacked', they will drop the end of their tail as a defense, or also for breeding purposes, the back part of their tail breaks off and explodes to release gametes. The tail can live for quite a awhile away from the body and moves around on its own. The black one I had dropped its tail while I owned it, the tail lived for two weeks.
They are mostly nocturnal. Red light is a good way to spot them - a red flashlight/LED(LED works better).
Really neat critters.
Cool post! Too bad they lost a bunch of corals...
Chris
__________________
No more tanks  - Laying off the ReefCrack for awhile!
Cheers,
Chris
|