Bearded fireworm - Hermodice carunculata

Hermodice carunculata (Amphinomida - Amphinomidae) is a marine bristle-worm widespread and abundant infound in reef habitats throughout the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the South American and African Atlantic coasts, and the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Bearded fireworms are often strikingly beautiful and very colorful, usually between 5-10 centimeters in length, but can reach up to 35 centimeters. On both sides they are endowed with a group of poisonous white bristles that flare out when the worm is disturbed. The bristles are hollow, venom-filled chaeta which easily penetrate flesh and then break off if this worm is handled. They produce an intense burning irritation in the area of contact, hence the common name of the species. The sting can also lead to nausea and dizziness. This sensation lasts up to a few hours, but a painful tingling can continue to be felt around the area of contact.

They are facultative corallivores, and their destructive feeding behavior is known to stunt the growth of the hydrocoral Millepora complanata in the Caribbean Sea, and in the Mediterranean Sea, Hermodice carunculata acts as a winter reservoir and possibly a vector for the coral-bleaching pathogen Vibrio shiloi. 

References: [1] - [2]

Hermodice carunculata | ©João Pedro Silva (Biscoito Bravo, Azores, Portugal)

Bearded fireworms, Hermodice carunculata, are a type of bristleworm of the fireworm Family Amphinomidae. These beautiful flattened segmented worms, reaching 35.6 cm (typically 7-10 cm) in length, with groups of white bristles along each side. The bristles are hollow, venom-filled chaeta which easily penetrate flesh and then break off if this worm is handled. They produce an intense burning irritation in the area of contact, hence the common name of the species. When disturbed, the worm flares out the bristles so they are more exposed.

Bearded fireworms are found throughout the tropical western Atlantic and at Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic.

Animalia - Annelida - Polychaeta - Amphinomida - Amphinomidae - Hermodice - H. carunculata