bug id please

[glee]

can someone please id this bug. it is about 3mm long. thanks!

 

[greenbean36191]

It's an aeolid nudibranch. It's almost definitely the zoanthid predator. Check all of your zoas since there are quite likely a lot more where this one came from. You also need to look for and remove any eggs, which will be small white spirals on the zoas.

 

[Boomer]

Yup an aeolid nudi. It is one of the Phyllodesium sp

 

[glee]

i usually dip my new zoas in lugol's plus my tank water....i will always freshwater dip them in the future. i just finished a freshwater dip and found possibly 15 adults. i also removed whatever curly egg sacks i was able to see.

i found an old rc thread that recommended a mandarin or wrasse to deal with the eggs.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=496210

can anyone confirm this?

thanks everyone! best, g

 

[greenbean36191]

Most people claim that the only reliable way to get rid of the eggs is manually. Personally I wouldn't mess around with trying to find an effective biological control.

 

[glee]

i manually removed all the egg swirls that i could see with a razor blade. does anyone know approximately how long these eggs take to hatch? thanks, g

 

[LeslieH]

Boomer, Mike - for further reference, note that our mollusc curator & nudibranch expert Angel Valdes id'ed this predator as a species of Cuthona. Bill Rudman on the SSF also put it as a Cuthona even though he only had a drawing to work from: http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=444

 

[glee]

hi leslie, the drawing of both the adult nudibranch and their corresponding egg swirls from SSF is a good representation of what i had on my zoanthids. are there any natural predators that might consume these nudis? do you know approximately how long eggs will take to hatch and what their survival rate is in aquaria? thanks!

 

[Boomer]

Thanks Les. Yup it does look much more like a Cuthona sp That genus is not even in my nuke book. I'll have to get that other one by Coleman

 

[greenbean36191]

Thanks Leslie. I thought you had said in the past that it had been placed in Cuthona, but I wasn't sure.

 

[LeslieH]

Glee -- there are many RC threads on this pest. Do a search using keywords like aeolid predator zoanthids nudibranch zoa and you'll find a lot of information on control methods and eggs posted by people who have experienced outbreaks in their tanks. Good luck!

Glad to help guys.