ID - are these worms?

[Jenn]

I have these weird things hanging from my cauliflower coral - does anyone know what they are and if they are good or not? I have a bad feeling about them. Thanks in advance.

Jenn

[Instar]

A cauliflower coral should have tentacles. It needs a high/very high water flow. Often they suffer salinity shock and withdraw
and start to fall apart, dropping little spicules all over the place. If these little needles are falling off, those are spicules that make
up part of the structure of the animal. Its a sign of decline of the animal. They don't need light, but, they do need a very stable
older tank, high current and planktonic feedings. Tentacle bundles should expand daily on one of these and I don't see any bundles
in the picture. If things go well for water maint, as long as there is any animal there, it can recover.

[Jenn]

Instar, thanks for the help. I did not realize that these were that picky, but luckily, I have it in a high-flow area, but possibly too much light. It seems to feed at night, so I took this pic shortly after turning on the lights - this is what it should look like, right? One of those worm-like things moved, but the other 2 seem to be hanging on.

[MikeP]

I ahve some 'cabbage' leathers like yours Sinularia dura and have not seen the spicules extend out like that when they retract. Mine are high up in the tank in high flow/light and are doing very well.

Some leathers (particularly Toadstool/Sarcophyton) can get a ctenophore that lives on/in it's body and emit long feathery streamers. I think more likely though that is part of the skeleton just poking through on yours and not some kind of commensal organism or parasite.