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I have had a marine tank for about 18 months now and over teh past 2 months i have noticed these huge worm like things in the tank. all my fish died this summer but my crabs and shrimp seem fine along with some corals. Can any one help me id these guys and tell me if there are dangerous. They are blue in color about 3-4 inches long and have what look like little feet on the sides of their bodies kind like a centipede.

can you show us a picture?

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

Sounds like Bristleworms.

Very common in a marine tank.

Heres a pic of one kind of bristleworm
to compare.

http://www.gulf-diving.com/pics/David%20Pics/bristle-worm.jpg

Im not sure if they are dangerous to fish or anything,
but I know they can grow to be several feet in
length.


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yeah that is what they look like except mine are blue, thanks now i wont feel like such a dink when i ask the guy at the fish store about them

Tropical marine Bristleworms come in all kinds of colours. And sizes. Big ones can end up over 3 feet in length. Yes, you read that correctly - three feet.

You should watch them carefully, as some of them can be predatory. Large ones can even be a danger to your fishes, particularly at night when the fishes are resting. If you experience losses of desirable animals in your aquarium, and upon elimination of other causes such as disease or bad stocking choices, are left with the Bristleworms as the likely culprits, they you'll have to remove them. Won't be easy either.

However, some Bristleworms are beneficial in a deep sand bed. Trouble i, telling the harmless detritivores apart from the troublesome ones is ... well, unless you're a trained invertebrate zoologist, it's impossible on visual inspection alone. If you have several specimens raoming about your aquarium, you could sacrifice one, pop it in a sealed container with 10% formalin, and see if a nearby college biology department can turn up trumps with an ID, particularly if you're fortunate enough to live near a college campus whose courses include invertebrate zoology and which has the resident experts permanently tenured.

Here's a nice article about Bristleworms and polychaete worms in general that should keep you occupied for some time.

Oops, almost forgot. Some images to illustrate their diversity:

Bristle Worm 1

Brtistle Worm 2

Bristle Worm 3

Bristle Worm 4

Bristle Worm 5

Oh and take a look at this beast someone found in their aquarium ...

You'll also want to take a look at this page to see some of the things to avoid in a marine aquarium.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002