Identification of arthropod please

Red long legged centipede like creature discovered

I've had a Liverock only tank that I have been seeding for a couple years with a marine powder. To discover what types of creatures may populate.
I've grown many types of calcium tube worms, several tiny species of starfish, common bristle/fire worms, daphina/sand fleas, peanut worms, very small tubular worms both white and red living in sand and rocks even a couple anemones (not the bad little brown one). but last night when I was inspecting a trap for the benificial fireworms I happened accross a STRANGE creature i haven't seen any info on.
It was bright red, segmented, long legs, and what could have been legs or whiskers sticking forward of the small head.. The size was about 3/4 of an inch long and with legs it was approx 1/4 of an inch wide. I would guess 12 to 20 pairs of legs. It was inspecting my trap but was too large to enter. It moved extreamly fast when a flashlight was shined on it. in a fraction of a second, It climbed over a rock around the back, over the top, back to the front and then in a hole. It seamed to scurry as if in a panic. Total distance traveled in about 1/2 a second was over 10 inches. FAST AS HELL. Any guesses?

I will get a red lense for my flashlight today and set several more bait stations tonight to see if i can get a picture. but best description is it is quite simular to a long legged centipede and red in color. It clearly was not a bristle worm as it used legs.

 

My best guess without a photo is that you saw a bristleworm. Harmless IME/IMO and a beneficial member of your clean up crew.
Any of these look similar?

https://www.google.com/search?q=bri...&ei=3RkLT82LLcjosQKi3bSRCg&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQsAQ

 

Thank you Reefmonkey.

I seasrched and searched fireworms and was most certian that due to the speed of this creature it couldn't possibly be. But clicking your google link of images I saw one image that was rather close.

So I guessed on the family and sub family of this species and did more googling. discovered that some fireworms are achieving locomotion my raising thier bodies with the bristles and using them much the same way centipedes do in a wave fashion and can swim and appear to RUN quite quickly. It doesn't hurt that the bristles are like a fan or feather in shape either.

The link below is exactly what I saw.
Chloeia flava
Indonesia, Lembeh (17 of 61)

Now given that it is a liverock (some polyp coral and mushroom coral) only tank, I haven't witnessed any losses (except for when i had a mithrax crab killing all my snails, hermit crabs, and small calcium tube worms) this worm although very elusive and beautiful should i keep it?

 

If that is exactly what you saw then you did not see any legs.
Bristleworms is a term used loosely and blankets all of the polyecheate we find in our aquariums.
They are segmented annelids and use locomotion as mobility.

I'm betting it was stretched out, the head feeding while the tail remained anchored in the hole it inhabits. When they are startled and retract they can move suprisingly fast.

Whether you leave or remove it is up to you. Some do damage, some do not. I can't make a recommendation on yours w/o a pic of the actual critter.

 

Oh no, it wasn't anchored in a hole. As i described in my original post. It was infront of my trap. I was looking at it with the moon lighting. Then i grabbed a flashlight. The very second it saw light it paniced. It left the sand bed, moved around, then over and back again on the liverock before entering a hole head first.

 

Here is a video of a non-paniced chloeia flava. You can clearly see how the bristles appear as legs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hstJFjQizec

 

Trap it and make a species specific nano for it if that is what it is. Of all the years I've been in the hobby I've never seen one in a tank.
I volunteer for an area educational facility. We have over 15,000 gallons of saltwater in 18 aquariums and have stocked live rock from all over the world. I've never seen any polyecheate HH as cool as some claim to have found and I've done my share of spending all night in the facility looking for pest HH with a red light.

I'm not saying you are lying. I'm merely saying I would really like to see the animal. Bristleworms fascinate me in some weird way. I have one of the common types we see all of the time in my fuge I keep as a pet. Last time I saw it, it was as wide as my thumb is thick when it was contracted and could stretch out nearly 3/4 the length of a 40B.

 

Trust me I was excited as all get out. I myself would have trouble believing it so I take no offense. I do plan on trying to trap it and getting some of my own pics and vids.

Some believe my Live Rock tank is boring. I myself think its better then fish. After all I don't have to feed anything, I use dried shrimp (hermit crab food) as bait in a water testtube that i punched 3 holes in the lid. Its very effective in catching the common fireworm. Now I just need to make a slightly bigger trap with a simular approach.

 

Still need help id'ing this invert

Being the persistant guy that i am. I couldn't stand that I saw this thing and couldn't find it again or trap it. So I took drastic measures. I completely tore down my tank. Closely examined every rock, and coral. SUCCESS!

Please help me id this invert. 2 pictures below are the top side and under belly of the invert placed in a 1 cup pyrex measuring cup. Its not a worm. It has a segmented shell on its back. I also discovered half of its shed in the tank when I completely scoured it.



Topside


underside


Shed

 

But...it IS a worm, lol. It's a scaleworm, which is actually related to the bristleworms.

scale worm - Google Search

Cheers,



Don