Bristleworm

Care at a glance

The bristleworm lives hidden in live rock and the sand bed and emerges mainly at night to clear up leftover food and dead animals. In that role it is actually useful: it keeps the bottom clean and processes what the fish leave behind.

Its white bristles are sharp, though, and break off easily in the skin, where they cause burning irritation; so never pick it up with bare hands. If you suddenly see a great many, that is almost always a sign that too much food is going into the tank, not that the worms themselves are the problem.

Good to know

• Active at night
• Venomous spines — handle with care

Natural predators

• Arrow crabStenorhynchus seticornis
• Six-line wrassePseudocheilinus hexataenia

Related species

• Pom-pom crab (boxer crab)Lybia tessellata
• Berghia nudibranch (aiptasia eater)Berghia stephanieae
• Feather star (crinoid)Crinoidea sp.
• Sally lightfoot crabPercnon gibbesi
• Tiger pistol shrimpAlpheus bellulus
• Dwarf zebra hermit crabCalcinus laevimanus