Boxfish Vs Bristle Worm

[Jonny967]

Very strange thing happened last night during my water change!, Before i change the water i stir up the sand and 9 times out of ten i fling a bristle worn out into the open water. I usally get my grips and get then out but last night i gripped hold of one about 2" long and my yellow boxfish began to get closer and closer until it nibbles the worm, I put this down to the boxfish being used to hand feeding and getting it mistaken for a treat but suddenly it came back and sucked the bristle worm in like it was eating spagatti!.
I couldn't beleive what happened and wish i could have caught it on camera, i know that the boxfish will eat all sorts of invertibrates but would have thought that i would stay clear of a bristle worm due to their sting?.
Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour and do you thing the fish could be harmed by eating the worm?

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

lols i dunno. but the boxfish is hardly a lightweight in te poisen department, storing probably the most deadliest poisen i know of hehe.

 

[andywg]

For almost every reef denizen with a poison to keep things away, there seems to be another which is apparently immune to it which is happy to consume the poison holder. Frogfish seem particularly fond of consuming scorpionfish and lionfish which all have a well known potent venom stored in a gland at the base of the dorsal spine.

Bristleworms encompass a number of species and I don't believe that many are actually that potent when it come to the venom stakes. While they are somewhat spiny, the Order Tetradontiformes are designed for taking on tough and spiny prey.

 

[humpy_the_humphead_wrasse]

god i want that cuddly chuubaka in your cockpit..... ahem.... i mean signature

 

[keenonfish]

Are these bristle worms a pest in marine setups or somthing? Just googled and would have thought them to be a welcome edition to a tank?

 

[ben1987]

people have different views on them. I wouldnt add any to my tank though, but i would leave them in if they came on live rock it think

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah some people see them as pests. I personally just see them as another part of the CUC. Got tons in my tank and they dont do any harm. There are a few species that will eat corals (or certain corals, cant quite remember) but they seem to be pretty rare to get as a hitch hiker