Night swimming flesh colored worm in Bonaire

[MelE]

I don’t have a picture but this worm was pretty unremarkable. I saw several scattered during my night dive at Oil Slick between 15-30 feet. They swam by undulating madly back and forth and they looked like they were spawning? It was 3 days before a new moon. When it landed on the sand it rolled into a spiral like a curly-q french fry. The worms were about the size of a man’s finger, smooth and flesh colored. I have never seen this worm before and despite whatever it spewed I could not discern a difference in the head and tail. To be fair, I am near sighted.

Thanks for any help!
M

 

[CuzzA]

Well I'm sure it was probably a polychaete worm, of which there are many species. When they reproduce they create what's called an epitoke. It swims around wildly and in a curling fashion before exploding and releasing the package.

Here's a video. Not mine, but hopefully my post will get you going in the right direction for identification.

 

[T.C.]

I don’t have a picture but this worm was pretty unremarkable. I saw several scattered during my night dive at Oil Slick between 15-30 feet. They swam by undulating madly back and forth and they looked like they were spawning? It was 3 days before a new moon. When it landed on the sand it rolled into a spiral like a curly-q french fry. The worms were about the size of a man’s finger, smooth and flesh colored. I have never seen this worm before and despite whatever it spewed I could not discern a difference in the head and tail. To be fair, I am near sighted.

Thanks for any help!
M

Was it a bloodworm? They’re the small worms in the background of the video.

They’re also really common in Bonaire. I think I still have a few in my ear from when I was there in 2015.