Cluster Duster

The cluster duster is a small tube worm that lives not alone but in clusters. Each individual builds a thin tube a few centimeters long and opens a feather-like crown of 1–2 cm at its tip; a cluster may contain dozens of individuals, and more than a hundred in the wild. The crowns are white, brown or light purple, often faintly banded. When it senses a shadow or a touch, the cluster pulls its crowns into the tubes all at once. It is a different species from the single, large-crowned feather duster on this site (Sabellastarte spectabilis). Specimens in the trade are wild-collected.

• At least 50 liters, a mature reef; it is placed as a cluster attached to a rock or where sand meets rock.
• Salinity 1.023–1.026 specific gravity, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C.
• Gentle to moderate flow; avoid strong flow that would constantly flatten the crowns.
• Reef-safe. Copper-based medications are lethal.

It does not photosynthesize; it filters phytoplankton and small zooplankton from the water. Most aquariums do not have enough plankton on their own; live or concentrated phytoplankton and copepods should be given near the cluster every day or every other day. A hungry cluster gradually thins out and loses its crowns.

Immobile. Under suitable conditions it multiplies on its own and can spread over the rocks. Losing a crown does not always mean death; if conditions are good, a new crown appears within a few weeks.

Good companions: clownfish, gobies, blennies, cardinalfish; cleaner shrimp, snails.

Avoid: butterflyfish, angelfish and triggerfish, many wrasses; crustaceans that eat tube worms, such as the arrow crab and large hermit crabs.