OMG, what is THIS?!?

A

Ashlar

So I'm re-routing wires down in the sump, and I happen to glance up at the sand.. HOLY COW!!

This.. thing.. is about 18" long, about the diameter of a pencil. The front looks like the back, and there don't appear to be any bristles. It doesn't seem to have the 'rings' that other worms have, nor is it smooth like a peanut worm- it almost looks like tiny scales.

In the main body, you can see peristalsis moving lumps of what appears to be sand, so I'm guessing it's a filter feeder.

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**edit

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic45345-11-1.aspx

Whew.. member of the peanut worm family, probably Sipunculus nudus.
 
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic45345-11-1.aspx

Whew.. member of the peanut worm family, probably Sipunculus nudus.
 
You know you're in trouble when it starts coming to the top water for feeding like many eels do!


BTW, what are you going to name " it " ?


MO
 
Neat critter... reminds me of the 2 ft fire worm I had in one of my old systems. He never harmed a thing in the tank and would clean up just about anything that sank to the bottom. If its a filter feeder though, wouldn't it have an output to the water column? Might just be a sand critter.. and probably harmless.
 
Yup, there's not much information on the net about it, but a french site (translated via babelfish) says that they serve the same function as a sea cucumber.. sand in, clean sand out.
 
Seems like you have quality sand. Can I get a cup or two? Need to gets some life going in my sand. Just put it in.
 
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