Bristleworm that was found in an aquariumIn my early days of writing for the marine aquarium hobby, I frequently cautioned fellow hobbyists to be on the lookout for “unwelcome” live rock stowaways, and high on my list of undesirables were the bristleworms. As I saw it then, every prickly polychaete that poked its head out of the rockwork was a potential troublemaker with a vicious sting and an insatiable appetite for coral polyps. Sure, some were supposedly worse than others, but why take the chance? Get them before they get you and your corals, I used to think. Now, having acquired a few more decades’ worth of aquarium-keeping wisdom, I’ve come to appreciate that most of these worms are beneficial scavengers and consumers of detritus and, thus, actually welcome aquarium inhabitants despite their creepy appearance. They’re also useful in that they help keep the substrate stirred somewhat.But what about those poky bristles? It’s true enough that bristleworms can poke you with their calcareous bristles (called chetae), potentially causing localized pain, itching, and/or swelling to varying degrees
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