help! huge alien worm. marine centipede?

[vt_snowman87]

currently facing a huge problem, i have this huge worm hiding inside my live rock..

its long, definitely longer than my finger..

its armored, like a centipede.. with segments..

it has many legs at the side..

it has a armored head like a termite..

it is NOT a bristle, nor a fireworm.. no pics of him online nor anywhere i seen b4..

worst, it has huge claw-like pincer teeth..

i've battled with him many times, and it'll drag all sorts of small stones into his hiding hole.. it'll try to pull my tweezers in when i tried to lure it out with food..

i cant get a pic of him as he's very fast and light sensitive..

help! he is a hazard and he bites anything that smells like meat.

[big_ben102000]

if the LR doesnt have any corals on it.. soak the entire thing in fresh water. the worm should come out. gd luck.

[vt_snowman87]

^ it looks like this, except thrice its length.. sea centipede?

[vt_snowman87]

if the LR doesnt have any corals on it.. soak the entire thing in fresh water. the worm should come out. gd luck.

its too big, and my tank's full of corals already..

[angelfishlover]

Kinda like fishing bait i use to go fishing when you say got pincers.

[thedidavid]

Kinda like fishing bait i use to go fishing when you say got pincers.

Sarong worm?

[Creetin]

wow sea monster!

like one suggested, take out e rock and soak in fresh water. or leave it outside in e sun. sure die...

if u want to be abit cruel u can take some hot water in a syringe and inject into e hole. but very evil la

[cjh]

seems like you have a bobbit worm... from what i read there are 2 types of bobbit worm.. 1 eat debris.. the other 1 eat fishes...

yours is the fish eating bobbit.. do a search on bobbit worm in the internet to find out more...

i use to have 1 in my tank but it suddenly disappeared....

[reeftask]

having this pest in your tank is a big problem. only solution to take out him with the rock to prevent him from escaping. If you are too afraid to move any lr, thinking too much of the corals, you can leave it there to breed and shift home to prevent you to catch.

Its a common sense that only solution is to take out this rock so why did you still hesitate?

[Achilles Tang]

Cjh got it right... it sounds like the bobbit worm. That is a SCARY monster... there pictures in the net of a bobbit worm from a reefer's tank that grew if i remember correctly about 3 - 6 ft in length.

Get a bristleworm trap... or make one from a bottle and ladie's stockings.

[vt_snowman87]

where can i get a worm trap?

i've tried trapping it various times, but to no avail..

[vt_snowman87]

^ yes it looks just like this, with longer segments, but 1 distinction is definitely the WHITE BAND segment behind the head.. my monster has that white band too..

yes it looks like a bobbit worm or a ragworm, sea centipede of some sort.. thanks..

i've tried hot water, tricking it into a bottle, hooking it with a bait, all to no avail..

^ this is the live rock it's on, how to fresh dip it??

[Achilles Tang]

Well, if you know its in a piece of liverock, take it out and use a screwdriver to crush it to death. When its mangled.... put the liverock into a pail of tank water, use a powerhead to blast the remains out of the hole and you can preserve the biological status of the liverock.

If you use freshwater, your liverock will be severely affected ie. all micro organisms will perish.

[vt_snowman87]

problem is, the rock u see in the pic, is ONE whole rock.. too big to take out..

i've set another new trap tonight, see how it works..

anyone knows where to get bristleworm trap? what it looks like?

[Achilles Tang]

I think you find it in most good LFS listed here... Iwarna, Aquamarin etc... why don't you enquire with them?

[vt_snowman87]

really, been to iwarna so many times but havent seen anything like this? where do they place it?

[Achilles Tang]

Its called Bristleworm Trap if I remember.... blue long box? Corallife brand I think.

[Achilles Tang]

A cheap and effective way as I said before is to use pantyhose!

Fill it up with some meat... clams, fishmeat etc... weigh it down and the bristleworms will get stuck to it as they crawl into the pantyhose... next day just dispose of the whole thing!

[vt_snowman87]

the trap i set isn't working, he's very clever.. darn.. the panty hose thing wont work i think, as he is very big.. his legs wont get stuck i believe..

[Achilles Tang]

problem is, the rock u see in the pic, is ONE whole rock.. too big to take out..

i've set another new trap tonight, see how it works..

anyone knows where to get bristleworm trap? what it looks like?

Why is it a problem to take out?

[vt_snowman87]

^ becoz it has corals on it, and it occupies half my tank..

freshwater soaking it will kill my rock isn't it.. and still not sure the 'thing' will die ornot.. its super hardy..

[sky]

hahahaha.. bro, you seems like very 'frien with him ler.

if you still finding so many excuse, why dont you just leave it there and let it ruin ur whole tank?

just give everything a try.. no harm at all..

cheers

[Achilles Tang]

Well, this thing eats fish and corals... so you have no choice actually - just remove the whole rock, crush it and blast it out.

[reeftask]

well, better give up guys. its snowing and freezing cold. I think he deserves to live, LOL

Why so workout while he is so stubborn. I have given up.

[Fishyfish]

Hi all,

Got some new info on the worm. Better be careful that it does not outgrow the tank least it really becomes a menace even to the reefer.

Eunice aphroditois aka. Bobbit Worm

alex - 02.04.2006 | 9 comments | #link | rss

Tag(s): Bobbit Worm Eunice aphroditois

Lorena Bobbitt, known for cutting of the penis of her husband back in 1993 in the US... This is where the fellow here got his name:

Commonly know as Bobbit Worm, the reason why he got this lovely name is due to the fact that the female worm attacks the male penis and feeds it to her young after mating...

The most common size for the worm is around 1 meter. But they have been reports of some specimens that where is the size range of 3 meters.

The pictures where taken during a night dive in Lembeh Strait and was maybe around 2.5cm wide (could be around 1.5m long). Good advice if you encounter one, don't get your fingers (or any other body part) to close as you might loose it too him.