Bristleworms???

[Mauireefer]

Ive heard many differing opinions about these stange and amazing creatures...but I want to know..do they have a mouth, a mandible, I heard they dont. BUT ive also heard they eat corals and fish, but HOW???? inquiring minds want to know.


JAred

[Wrassman]

[glow=Green, 3, 90%]Hey Jared,

I found this information on the Univ. of Ca. at Berkley site. It says that not all "bristleworms" have jaws, but some have very elaborate jaws. Just as we have always known, not all "bristleworms" are the same.

Here's the article, and a pic:[/glow]

[glow=Teal, 2, 80%]Most Polychaeta have pairs of parapodia, paddle-like appendages, running down the sides of their worm-like bodies. The parapodia are unjointed fleshy appendages, with upper and lower lobes terminating in a set of stiff bristles. These bristles may be used for walking, swimming or digging, depending on the lifestyle of the polychaete in question. A few polychaetes, known as fire-worms, have bristles which come equipped with a stinging poison.

The prostomium, the front portion of the head which extends out above the mouth, bears four eyes, palps and tentacles, an impressive array of sensory organs. The eyes of some polychaetes are quite complex, and a single individual may have eyes using two different mechanisms for vision. The polychaete Fabricia has eyes at both ends of its body, a useful thing to have, since it usually swims backwards.

In contrast to free-swimming species, sessile polychaetes will often lack complicated sense organs on their heads. Rather, they may come equipped with large spirals of feather-like tentacles, often brilliantly colored and quite beautiful. With these, the worm fans the water for food particles and small critters.

The earliest polychaetes had no jaws, but some later polychaetes developed hard jaws, which are sometimes mineralized with iron oxide. Such polychaete jaws are fairly common in the fossil record, and are known as scolecodonts. These are borne on a muscular proboscis which allows the jaws to be either retracted or extended. Some polychaete jaws are rather complex, having as many as nine individual parts. [/glow]

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/annelida/polyintro.html

[karlas]

theres supppose to be like one species of bristle worm that is bad for the aqurium but they arnt supposed to be that common. the rest are good scavageners. most of the time when they do attack corals and such its dead or dying anyway and there just doing there job. some people if they end up getting a very large one and feel uncomfortable with it just try to catch and remove it.

[Wrassman]

[glow=Green, 3, 90%]I agree, karla. I remove them only when they are longer than 4". I have one now that is approaching that length. I haven't seen him do anything destructive yet, but I did see him do something strange.

One of the fish had torn off a piece of lettuce algae and left it on the sand. I watched this bristleworm drag this piece of lettuce algae backward into his hole. Anyone else ever see a bristleworm eat algae??[/glow]

[smiley=confused1.gif] [smiley=inquisitive.gif] [smiley=stars.gif] [smiley=worried.gif]

[Craig Manoukian]

Nope, still waitning for my bristle worms to show themselves. I only have found one, about three inches in length and sent it to BW heaven.

I'm sure they are in there jusy haven't seen 'em!

[karlas]

Craig_Manoukian

oo ya if you have one you got more there in there. you just wont see them for a while.

i never saw one grab alge but being scavageners im sure they would grab anything they can get ahold of. i only see mine for a brief second when the light comes on. i found one with a pretty regular hide out and i look for him there. one day i was feedin flake food and a huge flake hit the rock and someting sucked it in the rock so fast but i never saw a critter. hmmmm what was it?

[SAW39]

Bump!
Yes, I've seen my big bristleworm eat algae right out of the algae clip that I use to feed the Yellow Tang. He loves silversides the best, though.