Worm or cucumber?

[jamesashley1]

At first I thought this was some sort of prickly cucumber but lately began panicking that it is a mutant bristle worm. General behavior is to just stick to the protein skimmer or a rock and then act dead for a week. It suddenly raised its head (or tail?) tonight.

 

[ichthyoid]

Looks to be a sea cucumber to me. Where did you get it?

 

[jamesashley1]

Inherited with the tank from someone who had to leave Atlanta for a job elsewhere. Thanks for the reassurance ichthyoid.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Agreed. Definitely a sea cucumber!

Cant confirm an exact species ID right now. But at a glance, its similar to a few species of filter feeder cucumbers that filter the water. These types are famously beautiful but can range from slightly challenging to infamously difficult to keep.

 

[ichthyoid]

I considered the feeding requirement also. It’s difficult to tell in a photo, but does this cucumber seem to be ‘skinny’? Also, are there any external gills or appendages present?

Regular feeding with phytoplankton & zooplankton may be needed/advised. I used a syringe attached to rigid airline tubing to feed my Sea Apple A baster or similar feeding ‘squirter’ type device will work to gently deliver the plankton. You may need to do this a few times to entice/stimulate the cucumber to feed. Also, can you contact the previous owner to ask what they did to feed it & it’s history? All of these will help.

Otherwise, you may want to consider giving/selling it to someone with better knowledge of them. As they can release toxins if/when they die, or get severely stressed. Best of luck, they are fascinating animals!

Here -

 

[jamesashley1]

Thank you Icth! Will take your suggestions to heart! I can't find any appendages or gills.