Possible worm attack?

I have a bi color blenny that showed up today with hairs on his body that look like he got into a cactus or something....is this a bristle worm problem? And what do I do? I have a QT tank but catching the blenny may be a problem.

Please any ideas, this is a beautiful blenny!!!

Drew

 

Here is a quick pic..the little guy will not stand still!!!

 

wow, i would say so by the looks of em....that mush of been a large worm. Ild catch him and remove them by hand.

 

The worm is about 4 inches...I think...I've tried catching the blenny but he's pretty new to the tank so not real cooperative...I am going to trap the worm. I read an article at Reefkeeping.com about this type of attack and the author said that the bristles will dissolve from the fish or the aquarist, and in general shoul do no harm...

thanks SeaSplendor

Drew

 

good to hear. I just kno they burn like heck...poor lil guy. BTW.....Ive read lots and lots and lots of books on reef inverts. and have never ever seen a documented picture with a fish suffering a bristle worn attack.....a few good shots of that could be very usefull for others. I have been going over the pic and would wager on it that those are definatley bristles. I get bristle wormed regularly in the LR tank 2 work and they look identical just bigger.

 

and, and please keep us postet.
If something like that happens to somebody else that would be a good reference.

 

So far he's still got a very good appetite, and seems fine...it has got to hurt though. I will try getting more pics if he will sit still. I am hesitant to try to catch him and pull them out 'cause it sounds like the bristles hold the venom and I would be afraid of squeazing more into him. This is the reefkeeping link I was reading:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-04/rs/

Thank you all for the input...I'll be watching him very carefully as this is my GF's favorite fish. He is already about 2.5 to 3 inches long so I think that the fact that he is not a baby will help fight off the sting!!

 

Here is a clearer picture of Boo the Blenny with a face full of bristles (he also has them along his sides, they look like little tufts just like they do on the worms):

 

[quote author=dx7fd2 link=board=ASAP;num=1105556845;start=0#7 date=01/12/05 at 16:00:14]Here is a clearer picture of Boo the Blenny with a face full of bristles (he also has them along his sides, they look like little tufts just like they do on the worms):[/quote]

I was thinking the exact same thing about the way they are clumped...I would be carefull if you find the culprit as the worms most see are harmless but have a far lesser density of bristles....the worms that have that many are usually the "bearded" variety and have a painful sting rather than an irritating one. wow, that guy got a full on dose! He almost looks like he has a mane!

 

I have seen the worm on several occaisions and there is a pic of it in the invert forum under a thread I started a week or so ago.

http://www.3reef.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Inverts;action=display;num=1104977934

I hope Boo will learn from his mistake and not mess with any more of the bristle buggers!! I am off to buy a trap for the worm and see what the night hours will bring me.

AHHH....night fishing!!!

Drew