Cluster duster (Bispira brunnea) care guide

Group

Other invertebrates

Other names

Cluster duster worm, Social feather duster, Metalaonome brunnea, Sabella bahamensis

Family

Sabellidae

Origin

Caribbean and the Bahamas, on rocks, coral and sand, to about 35 m

Water

saltwater

Maximum size

4 cm

Temperature

22–26°C

pH

8.1–8.4

Hardness

dKH 8–12, SG 1.023–1.025

Care level

intermediate

Temperament

peaceful

Reef safe

yes

Flow

Medium, gentle current carrying food

Care

Cluster dusters are colonial feather duster worms: one clump can hold over 100 worms, each in a soft tube about 4 cm long, with sand grains stuck to the outside. Each worm spreads a crown of 18–28 feathery radioles in two half-circles. Crowns may be brown, orange, purple or banded, often darker in the centre, and worms in the same clump tend to share a colour. In the wild they grow on rock, coral and sand, often under overhangs and in crevices where water movement brings plenty of suspended food. In the aquarium place the clump in a shaded spot under an overhang or coral with gentle to medium flow. Water: 22–26 °C, pH 8.1–8.4, dKH 8–12, SG 1.023–1.025. The tube mass is fragile: handle and transport it carefully. They are easily startled and pull into their tubes. Stress or poor water can make them drop their crowns, which regrow in a few weeks if conditions are right. Feeding guide: as filter feeders they can be hard to keep fed and often starve in new or very clean tanks. They do best in mature reefs with plenty of plankton, with regular liquid or frozen plankton foods. Copper: copper-based medicines and some plant fertilisers are toxic to shrimp, snails and most other invertebrates. Never dose them in a tank holding this animal, and check the label of any treatment or fertiliser before use. Sources: LiveAquaria (liveaquaria.com/products/cluster-duster-colored); Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bispirabrunnea). Checked October 2026.

Diet

Filter feeder: traps plankton and fine particles on its radioles and moves them to the mouth along mucus-lined grooves. Supplement with phytoplankton, rotifers, oyster eggs and other fine plankton foods, fed into the current near the colony.

Breeding

Colonies are all male, all female or mixed, and the worms are probably protandrous hermaphrodites (male when small, female when larger). Our sources do not describe captive spawning; new worms sometimes appear around established colonies.

Compatibility and tank mates

Reef safe and peaceful. Keep away from predatory fish (angelfish, butterflyfish, some wrasses, puffers), serpent stars, urchins and any invertebrate that could break up the tube mass. Hermit crabs and peppermint shrimp may pick at the crowns.

Last updated 8 October 2026. Community-edited care guide on Aquatic-Auctions.