在我为海洋水族馆业余爱好写作的早期，我经常警告同伴的爱好者正在寻找“不受欢迎的”现场摇滚乐，而在我的不可避免的列表中，我是毛毛虫。正如我当时看到的那样，每个将其头部戳出来的刺刺的多chaete是一个潜在的麻烦制造者，有恶毒的刺痛和对珊瑚息肉的胃口。当然，有些人据说比其他人还要糟糕，但是为什么要抓住机会呢？我曾经想到，在他们拿到你和你的珊瑚之前就得到他们。
现在，已经获得了数十年的水族馆维护智慧之后，我很感激这些蠕虫中的大多数都是有益的清道夫和消费者的消费者，因此，尽管出现了令人毛骨悚然的外观，但实际上还是欢迎水族馆居民。它们也很有用，因为它们有助于保持substratestirred somewhat.
But what about those poky bristles?
的确，猪毛虫可以用钙质的刚毛（称为chetae）戳您，可能会导致局部疼痛，瘙痒和/或肿胀在不同程度上。所谓的鞭打物种，例如Eurythoe complanata，拥有可能造成非常痛苦的刺痛的毒液尖齿。但是，这种风险在很大程度上可以通过当我们穿防护手套rking in the aquarium，特别是在处理岩石或底物材料时。
I was stung on the finger by a bristleworm (not the fireworm variety, gratefully) on two separate occasions, resulting in swelling and itchiness, but not severe pain. Both times, it happened when I picked up a particular rock holding a gorgonian specimen—admittedly with unprotected hands—so I could brush off some algae. The sting itself was barely noticeable, and I never would have figured out the cause if I hadn’t seen the worm quickly retreat into a hole in the rock (right near the affected finger) when it happened the second time.
But they eat corals and other livestock, don’t they?
In addition to packing a potent sting,Hermodice carunculata, the Caribbean bearded fireworm or coral-eating fireworm, is notorious in the hobby for feeding on corals and other sessile invertebrates. Hence, it has become something of a “poster worm” for misbehavinglive rockhitchhikers. However, it is very much an exception in this regard. Remember, of the myriad bristleworm species out there, the vast majority pose no threat whatsoever to aquarium livestock.
就那些关于猪猪杀死和吃鱼的报道而言……好吧，我们只能说它们被夸大了。在这些情况下，鱼死于其他原因，蠕虫只是清除了遗体。
If you do discover you have the dreaded bearded fireworm in your tank (not as common as the species’ notoriety might suggest), you may be able to catch and remove it using a baited trap.
繁荣的猪毛虫种群
In the event that you experience a bristleworm population explosion in your system, the first factor to consider is that you’re likely overfeeding the tank and need to cut back while stepping up your maintenance routine. If that doesn’t reduce the population, there are also various animals you can introduce for control purposes, for example certainPseudocheilinussp。扭曲，带珊瑚虾（Stenopus hispidus), or the arrow crab (Stenorhynchus seticornis).
However, keep in mind that no animal should be added to your tank for the purpose of bristleworm control unless you’re certain it’s compatible with all your current livestock and that you can provide for its needs long term. Also, be aware that beyond limiting their numbers, some such control organisms may virtually wipe out the population of these beneficial worms in a system.
