# Small worms in isopod culture.



## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

Hi guys. Recently I am having trouble with my Pictum isopod culture. A lot of them died so I did a thorough search at the substrate and found small worms wiggling in it.

They are a white with a black pointed tip(head). The body shape is not uniform, thicker at the middle part of the body and comes to a point at its head. The rear end is somewhat round. Total length at rest is about 5mm-10mm. They have a little black line running down the middle of their bodies. They do lift up their heads and kinda wave around when I took them out and place on a container lid. However they don't seem to try to escape with a proboscis. I took out all of the isopods and threw away the substrate. What are they?

I have a video of one but I don't know how to attach the file.


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

Anyone knows?


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## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

Sounds like some kind of fly maggot, to me. Your culture might be too wet, and have too much rotting material.


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

SirGunther said:


> Sounds like some kind of fly maggot, to me. Your culture might be too wet, and have too much rotting material.


It's not a Nemertean?


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

Or a terrestrial flatworm?


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## SirGunther (Jun 4, 2014)

Without pictures it's hard to tell, but my understanding is that nemerteans are extremely rare in vivs, and so if it was anything, it would be a planarian. But from the description it sounds like a fly larva to me.


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

SirGunther said:


> Without pictures it's hard to tell, but my understanding is that nemerteans are extremely rare in vivs, and so if it was anything, it would be a planarian. But from the description it sounds like a fly larva to me.


I have a video of it but I don't know how to attach the file.


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## Ravage (Feb 5, 2016)

Post it to Youtube, if you haven't already. Then copy the share link from Youtube and just paste it into the reply text box. The Board will automatically interpret the link and embed it in you page. Do not use the embed code from Youtube- just paste the link into your post.
Simple. Done.


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

https://youtu.be/p6QTL20VCO8


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## jilsao (Jan 21, 2018)

I've spotted something similar in my isopods cultures. Mostly on and around pieces of bug burger. Watching this thread to see if anyone know what those are and if they're a problem?


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

Are they fly maggots? Or flatworms/nemerteans?


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

It's a fly larva. Maybe soldierfly. Not necessarily harmful to anything - but they do compete for food.


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## Zevil (Jun 2, 2018)

kimcmich said:


> It's a fly larva. Maybe soldierfly. Not necessarily harmful to anything - but they do compete for food.


So, definitely not a terrestrial flatworm?


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

> So, definitely not a terrestrial flatworm?


Your video shows a segmented larva. Terrestrial planarians (flatworms) are non-segmented.


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