Worm like creature killed my clam

[majormaz]

When I got up this morning I turned on the lights and saw that my maxima clam was dead. Along side the clam was a slime tunnel, I followed the tunnel and saw a huge worm like creature. The worm or what ever it is for that matter, resembled a brittle starfish. The worm also had a greenish, brownish appearance and it was huge! I tried stopping it, but it was too fast.

What is this thing?

 

[onefish2fish]

the clam died, the bristle worm cleaned up the body

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

brisstles don't make slime tunnels do they?

 

[onefish2fish]

idk what you mean by that but i had a crocea clam and i came home from work in the morning to it dead once. the clam had a slime coat all over it. im guessing the slime was from the dead clam?

 

[onefish2fish]

not the best but you can get the idea:

 

[majormaz]

The worm is a king ragworm. It looks nearly identical.

 

[Nickjr000]

I have these worms. I was able to get one out of my tank it was about 6" long. I only see them at night. If you look in your tank in middle of night with a flashlight you'll probably see it again. Look quick cause when the light hits em thy shoot back into their hole or area really fast. Just like a nightcrawler does. Pretty sure one killed my gono a while back. Almost impossible to get out of your tank they are too fast!

 

[Henrye718]

Think I would stake out the thing with a razor on a stick and guillotine it when it came out or maybe even a fishing line noose. A very very dim light near the hole just enough to see it.

 

[JerseyWendy]

If this worm indeed killed your clam, I'd try and capture it with the inverted bottle trick. Put some food (silverside perhaps) into a plastic bottle, put it in bottom, and wait for that thing to go in it. I would also like to see what that worm looks like, if at all possible.

I have bristleworms in my tank, and they've never bothered anyone or anything. Great scavengers, IMHO.