Weird worm

[tonester_man]

Last night I was looking at my nano tank and noticed an unusual worm. The worm was flat, paper thin, about 1/2 an inch in width, and very long about 4 inches from what I could see, but he was in some rock also. I was thinking it might be a flat worm but most of the pictures that I have seen the flat worm looks more roundish.

Wish I had taken a picture, but it retracted too fast.

Any input?

Thanks
Tony

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Was it stripped in markings?

 

[tonester_man]

no flesh tone

 

[cameron]

If it wasn't in a reef, I would tell you it was a tape worm or some fluke. Surely someone on here knows what this thing is.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Sounds like polychaete of some sort/species. There are litterally thousands of different types. Good news is 99.9% are harmless and/or good for the system.

 

[zman676]

could also be a planarian or platyhelminthes. try to find it again and get a pic.

were you able to see its head because thats one of few distinguishing features amongst organisms like this. also, look to see if its body appears to be segmented, like that of an earthworm. that would mean it is an annelid, and likely a polychaete like Brandon said. if its skin appears completely smooth and without segmentation, then you have to look at the head or try to find another distinguishing feature. my guess would be planarian, but we need more details!!

 

[zman676]

btw- planarians have triangular heads and what appear to be eyes on the dorsal side of their bodies.

 

[zman676]

heres a picture of a planarian, via gross microscopy. you can see the general body plan of this organism and keep in mind they come in ALL shapes and sizes, but this is the general layout.
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<legend> Attached files </legend>

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class="gc-images" title="planaria.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[tonester_man]

it looked like a planarian, but I did not see any type of head on it..... I could not find it yesterday, but will keep an eye out for it...... should I be worried?

because i could remove all the rock and try to extract it, but it would be a job for the weekend.....