ridetheducati May 4, 2013 May 4, 2013 Received a call from a friend, who described what looked like red burrowing worms INSIDE a Blue Tort. I had to see that, so I ran over took some pix. It looks like the worms borrow in and tunnels through coral. Mild case of basal STN prompted further investigation, which led to the discovering. The coral was in his system for a least 12 months. Red Worm infection. Red Worm on paper towel. Infected Tort
Coral Hind May 4, 2013 May 4, 2013 Wow, I have never heard of them. Were they only near the base? Could they be harmless and the STN was caused by something else or do you feely these were the cause?
ridetheducati May 4, 2013 Author May 4, 2013 Note: I did not see any red worms two inches from the tips; however, the worms have totally infested the coral.
ridetheducati May 4, 2013 Author May 4, 2013 Wow, I have never heard of them. Were they only near the base? Could they be harmless and the STN was caused by something else or do you feely these were the cause? He believes the worms were causing the STN, because the system was fairly stable. Personally, I do not have any evidence to support it.
Jan May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Hmm, why would they be eating the skeleton and not the flesh. I'm wondering if they just found a place to hang out.
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 I was wondering where the worms were getting its nutrients, but I could not see evidence of trauma to the external flesh. Granted I only had a 5x magnifying glass available. Worms stealing nutrients from the polyps?
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 When the worms are exposed they do not seem to "run". Relaxed like they are protected inside the coral skeleton. I dipped a frag in CoralRX to see if it would react, nothing.
RJT May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 That was the only coral infected? Has your friend added anything (corals, fish, snails etc) to their tank recently?
Incredible Corals May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Did you find the worms every time you snapped a piece apart?
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 That was the only coral infected? Has your friend added anything (corals, fish, snails etc) to their tank recently? He probably has approximately 30 SPS corals. We fragged what we could. I focused on the Oregon Tort, Milles and Staghorns; corals that could possibly support the worms. No signs of infection in the other corals. The most recent addition to his tank was a Linka starfish. Based on the pervasiveness of the infection, the worms have been there for a long time. Last night was the first time the infected coral was fragged.
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 Did you find the worms every time you snapped a piece apart? Absolutely. The worms began about two inches from the top all the way to the base. In fact, they were in the encrusted base as well.
CaptainRon May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Wow..... Pretty amazing. Makes me wonder what else is coming into our tanks that we don't know about yet!
gws3 May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Did they move around at all? Maybe he should try flatworm exit, wait a few days, then cut a frag and see if they are still alive. Also, the interceptor spectrum that people are buying from australia and canada has prazi in it, which kills worms. Could try that as well.
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 Did they move around at all? Maybe he should try flatworm exit, wait a few days, then cut a frag and see if they are still alive. Also, the interceptor spectrum that people are buying from australia and canada has prazi in it, which kills worms. Could try that as well. The worms did not move around at all. I snapped a frag to expose the worms, dipped in CoralRx for 45 minutes, no reaction from the worms. Maybe the light causes the worms to go to sleep; active only during the night. About three months ago, the hobbyists treated his tank with Prazi for a week because he thought one of his fish had Flukes. I was going to dip it in Bayer, but I did not feel like driving home to pick up my solution. It is too late to determine a means to eradicate the worms, he used the most effective method, the trash toss.
chucelli May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 (edited) I'm not so sure they are worms... they could be gonads or part of the coral animal that is getting fortified in preperation for spawning. The fact that you saw no reaction from them when dipped in a solution that is highly irritating to polychaetes and other forms of non-coral life supports this as well. Also, if indeed it is a burrowing organism, there should be evidence on the outer fleshy layer (at least in certain "freshly burrowed" areas). -Robert Edited May 5, 2013 by chucelli
Jan May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 (edited) I agree with this. They don't look like worms to me. I'm not so sure they are worms... they could be gonads or part of the coral animal that is getting fortified in preperation for spawning. The fact that you saw no reaction from them when dipped in a solution that is highly irritating to polychaetes and other forms of non-coral life supports this as well. Also, if indeed it is a burrowing organism, there should be evidence on the outer fleshy layer (at least in certain "freshly burrowed" areas). -Robert Edited May 5, 2013 by Jans Natural Reef Foods
Jan May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 (edited) Looking at coral sapwning pics I'm thinking that these might have been gametes. They don't move. They also appear to be slightly rounded in certain areas. Could be just starting to form or just about to be released because they are so close to the surface of the coral. http://coralreefsyst...nt/about-corals http://diversden.com...al_spawning.htm Edited May 5, 2013 by Jans Natural Reef Foods
Jan May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Coral egg and sperm bundles released in spawning. From Gilmour 1999. See “Photograph of the week: 07 February 2001,” FNAS School of Animal Biology 2001-Feb-07, http://www.animals.uwa.edu.au/latest/2001/2001feb07 http://reefhelmreich.blogspot.com/
DaveS May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Very very interesting thread. It would seem a little odd that a coral under distress from STN would have the energy to be ready to spawn. I'm eager to hear the input from some of the practicing marine biologist that we have in our community.
Jan May 5, 2013 May 5, 2013 Some corals spawn under severe disstress/stress. Agreed that it would be great to hear from a Marine Biologist on the subject. Very very interesting thread. It would seem a little odd that a coral under distress from STN would have the energy to be ready to spawn. I'm eager to hear the input from some of the practicing marine biologist that we have in our community.
ridetheducati May 5, 2013 Author May 5, 2013 The coral polyps were semi-retracted for a couple weeks and the base began to recede. He lost a couple corals due to STN a few weeks ago, so he thought the Tort was headed down the same path. I am not a marine biologist, so anything sounds plausible to me, especially when it comes to spawning. I agree with DaveS above, I find it hard to believe the coral would have the energy to prepare for spawning when tissue necrosis is ongoing.
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