Worm ID

So I found this guy swimming at the top of my aquarium, then it would let itself sink, and swim right back up, I took it out with a teaspoon and within 30 seconds or so it started decomposing ?

 

Epitoke. It's the reproductive part of the worm that breaks off and swims up to the surface to meet the others that apparently didn't show up. Spawn time is usually mid-October in the southern hemisphere, but I guess that would translate to mid-April (or early May) in the northern hemisphere....

Cheers,



Don

 

Oh i have seen these in my tank too and often wondered what they were. great ID Don!

 

Gross, weird and interesting. You just have to love nature! Maybe I missed it but what kind of worm is doing this?

 

Hard to say which species, but it's a polychaete worm. Lots of different species reproduce in this way, usually synchronized by the season and lunar phase. For palolo worms (eunicids), the major spawn is ten days after the first full moon in October, if my memory serves correctly. If the full moon falls very early or very late in October, there will usually be two lesser spawns. The epitokes are collected in baskets or nets, and are a delicacy in the south Pacific. They are usually sauteed with onions and eaten on toast. I've tried it that way, and wasn't impressed...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epitoky



Don

 

OK, I'm sufficiently grossed out for today I can't say that I've ever seen these things in my tank but that doesn't mean that it's not happening!

 

yum, and i just finished breakfast. lol. glad i missed out on the worm toast. i wonder if marmalade would help. lol

 

wow really interesting !!! so that means all those little things are eggs that woul dhave made even more of these worms in here ? Oh btw, today is day 14 in lunar calendar, 100% full moon ! I was raised in the South Pacific (Tahiti) lived there for 20 years and never heard of it lol