Peacock Bristleworm (Chloeia flava)

Also known as Fire Worm, Golden Bristleworm, Golden Fireworm, Peacock Fireworm, Rock Worm, Sea Caterpillar, Sea Mice, Segmented Seaworm, Segmented Worm

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Description

Also known as Fire Worm, Golden Bristleworm, Golden Fireworm, Peacock Fireworm, Rock Worm, Sea Caterpillar, Sea Mice, Segmented Seaworm, Segmented Worm.

Found amongst rubble and sandy areas, of coral and rocky reefs.
They feed on sea anemones, coral polyps, hydroids, sponges, and tunicates.
Length - 10cm
Depth - 1-20m
Widespread ?Western Central Atlantic, ?Caribbean, Indo-Pacific

Segmented worms are extremely mobile, have strong jaws for hunting and feeding on their prey.
Some worms are covered in hairs for protection, scavenging on the sea floor for detritus.
Others are delicate fans, protected by their self made tubes, which they retreat back into when threatened, these are filter feeders and feed on plankton. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloeia_flava

3 comments

  1. Use gloves when handling these worms they can deliver a painful sting! Live amongst rocks during the day and come out to scavange on most food and detritius at night Don't think they harm corals.

  2. Posted by Jana
    November 08, 2010 at 07:30 am - 1 person found this useful.

    I just found one in our tank, it was attached to some new coral we bought. There isn't much about them online that I can find through GOOGLE, where can I learn more about them? Like, will they eat our coral?

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