# Mystery Worms



## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

Hello Everyone,

Can anyone ID this worms?
They are about .5 inch long.
The dorsal side is dark, ventral is lighter.
One end has a taper "tentacle/feeler" that it used to feel and move around.

They are in my leuc grow out tank. Should I be worried?

Thanks!!!
-Zee


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## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

Here are the worms in the tank


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## bobberly1 (Jul 16, 2008)

That's bizarre. I'd just remove them.


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

These are commonly seen in vivaria. You can remove them as you see them but they will always come back overtime. They feed on fruit flies and in vivaria where you have these you will see a decrease in springtails. They can also feed on a frogs eggs from time to time.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

Wondering if "Sluggo" would take care of them. I had a large population of slugs and snails and after 1 application they are gone. Might be worth a try.

p.s. frog safe, had it in my tank for 3 weeks now. Rob from Little Frog Farm uses it in his terrariums. Just 1 tablespoon sprinkled throughout the tank.


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## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

hexentanz said:


> These are commonly seen in vivaria. You can remove them as you see them but they will always come back overtime. They feed on fruit flies and in vivaria where you have these you will see a decrease in springtails. They can also feed on a frogs eggs from time to time.


Hexentanz- Do you by chance know why they are called?

These "worms" became apparent only recently, maybe their appearance coincides with the HUGE amount of springtails I just put into the tank last Friday.

Thanks
-Zee


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## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

Bcs TX said:


> Wondering if "Sluggo" would take care of them. I had a large population of slugs and snails and after 1 application they are gone. Might be worth a try.
> 
> p.s. frog safe, had it in my tank for 3 weeks now. Rob from Little Frog Farm uses it in his terrariums. Just 1 tablespoon sprinkled throughout the tank.


Thanks for the suggestion, Bcs Tx!

As long as they are not detrimental (parasitic) for the frogs, I am not too worried.
The tank is only a grow out tank and I will most probably not transfer the old plants to their new permanent tank.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

the best way to take care of pest in yoru vivariums are to remove the frogs and just zap the tank with CO2


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## donstr (Jun 21, 2007)

In the first picture I thought they were earthworms but in the second they look more like nemerteans. 
Nemertea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take a close look. If they have segments then earthworms, if not then they are nemerteans.
Another clue is nemerteans will hunt on the glass where you can see them waving their proboscis back and forth while earthworms will....dig.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

I am pretty sure they are called nematodes.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

ZeeMan said:


> Hexentanz- Do you by chance know why they are called?
> 
> These "worms" became apparent only recently, maybe their appearance coincides with the HUGE amount of springtails I just put into the tank last Friday.
> 
> ...


I'm guessing this has to do with drainage. I know these worms/nematodes like to burry in the substrate during the day (I think they may be nocturnal) so that would make it easier for springs to reproduce.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Can you rule out a terrestrial flatworm? (if they are terrestrial flatworms, then they are harmless to the frogs as they predate on earthworms). Its hard to tell in the pictures as they are blurry or too dark. 

Ed


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## ZeeMan (Sep 19, 2008)

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their input.

Yesterday, when I put ff in the tank...the worms crawled out of their hiding spaces.
So far the closest description is Nemertea...they crawl quite fast (for a worm) and wave that tapered end in the air back and forth.
From as much as I can see, there are no segmentations other than the segmentation at which the proboscis starts. Furthermore, while the body of the worm is a pink/peach color, the proboscis is light gray.

I think they are blind and slow in striking.
I observed them crawling right up to the fruit fly and slowly trying to figure it out at which time the ff just crawled away.
Their body mucus is sticky...maybe that is how they trap their prey (springtails?)

I removed the big ones...however from what I read they are ASEXUAL...which means I'll have to CO2 the tank when the Leucs are moved to their new tank.

Thanks again
-Zee


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## UmbraSprite (Mar 2, 2007)

Mac said:


> I am pretty sure they are called nematodes.


Different genus....

Nemertea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nematode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## MountaineerLegion (Apr 8, 2008)

For anyone else that ends up here I found this site which proved quite helpful...which was good because I have tons of these critters.


Nemerteans


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