# Need help IDing tiny white worms.



## NovemR (Dec 29, 2021)

Please help me ID what these worms are and if they're dangerous. They are super small, probably about the same width as a spring tail, white, and round. One strange feature the is that their head portion is visibly smaller in diameter than their body portion and is translucent as opposed to its opaque.

Thank you.


----------



## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Welcome to DB. 

They're not dangerous to frogs, whatever they turn out to be.

Perhaps someone will chime in with an ID, but a reliable way to get all the info you can to make an ID is to search "white worms" here -- there are hundreds of threads, likely some with minute details that will get you the ID you want.


----------



## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

Sorry my friend. You've got flatworms. They will decimate your microfauna and eat your fruit flies. The best thing you can do is go in an hour after lights out and kill any you see, every night.


----------



## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

JasonE said:


> Sorry my friend. You've got flatworms. They will decimate your microfauna and eat your fruit flies. The best thing you can do is go in an hour after lights out and kill any you see, every night.


They don't look like flat worms to me because well... they don't look flat are you certain theses are planaria? They don't look like any of the terrestrial free-living planara I've seen


----------



## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

IShouldGetSomeSleep said:


> They don't look like flat worms to me because well... they don't look flat are you certain theses are planaria? They don't look like any of the terrestrial free-living planara I've seen


I could definitely be wrong but they look exactly like the flatworms in my tank.


----------



## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

Some better images preferably top down could settle this debate, do the flatworms plaguing you're tank have the triangle/crescent shaped heads or eye spots?


----------



## JasonE (Feb 7, 2011)

IShouldGetSomeSleep said:


> Some better images preferably top down could settle this debate, do the flatworms plaguing you're tank have the triangle/crescent shaped heads or eye spots?


Not sure actually. Mine flail their heads around looking for bugs. Maybe yours aren't flatworms, which would be awesome.


----------



## Ravage (Feb 5, 2016)

It quite possibly is a terrestrial Planaria. They don't all have geometric heads and visible eyespots. You'll need microscopy and a "worm guy (gal)" to get to the bottom of it. The fact is, most "bioactive" vivarium's have lots of different critters that show up" nematodes, millipedes, etc. Anything that lives in your area that can find this oasis will try and set up shop. As long as you don't end up with 10,000 of them (indicating some real imbalance) you're going to be fine.


----------



## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

nemerteans? They have those snouts that they nose around with.


----------



## NovemR (Dec 29, 2021)

Thanks everyone for your answers. I've just started culling them on the off chance that they _are _nemerteans . I'd rather not risk an infestation.


----------

