Is this the Bad Fireworm?

I bought a kenya tree frag that was on a shell. The shell looked empty when I bought it, but felt heavier than it should have.

Then I notice this little guy once I got home. I had already put the coral in the tank, but it had fallen from it's place on the rock and I saw the worm when it was upside down. I'm assuming this is the bad type of fireworm that eats stuff like kenya trees. So I pulled the whole shell out of the tank, and since I absolutely hate creepy crawly things, I fragged off the biggest part of the kenya tree, and kept the shell outside of the tank.

This is the bad type of worm right? Sorry for the photos, there's nothing on this planet that would make me want to reach in there and get this guy out of his little home.

 

Looks bad to me.

But cool the kenya tree grew on a snail shell.

 

yes that is a fire worm. kill on site.

 

Definately Bad....also Bad and Fireworm are redundant

 

Your critter looks to be Eurythoe complanata, AKA Caribbean fireworm, and you're right to remove it.

The other commonly seen fireworm is Hermodice carunculata, and should also be removed if you see them.

Both critters can be distinguished from common BW's by the "tufted" arrangement of the spines.

 

That's him. I recognize the metallic shine. They're actually really pretty in the sunlight.

 

I'm sure you could coax it out of the shell by putting some type of fish food in the container with it. Then put it in a dark spot to simulate night time then after a while look and see if its out of the shell. If it is remove the shell and toss the worm. Worth a try...

 

Break out the nukes, thats a nasty bugger.

 

Actually I tried that with no avail.

My solution was to drain the shell of water then stick it in the sun for a couple hours. But that didn't seem to kill him either. He's currently living in a styrofoam cup with a lid. I might put him in his own little tank later.

 

All I can add is that I have the same type of Bristle/Fireworm, a very large one in fact.

The only issue I have had is my clown tried to chew it to pieces recently and ended up with a full face of bristle, she did recover nicely though.

I have had this particular worm for about 5 years.