Colt coral Nudi ??

[twintrades]

is this a soft coral nudi ? Hope it just eats That one type of colt... Oh well the was tank is coming down anyway...


In tank

In bowl

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Yes, a soft coral eating nudi for sure. Not sure what species of coral it would feed on, but Colt would be a reasonable guess since the appendages on the slug looks so much like Colt polyps. Coral eating nudis very frequently are designed to blend in perfectly with their food items like that.

 

[twintrades]

Yea it was feeding on a colt when i took it out. Good think i only have one colt !

 

[cjdevito]

I have no idea what species or even family that slug belongs to; not even the branched cerata were enough to get me an ID, and they're uncommon enough that I'm a little surprised I came up empty.

I do know one family (Heros) with branched cerata that feeds on alcyonium corals though, so it's definitely not a stretch to see similar behaviour from this guy.

 

[scuba guy ron]

looks to be a Dendronotid Nudibranch which includes Marionia spp, Tritonia spp and Tritoniopsis spp. Prey items include soft corals, sea pens and gorgonians

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Dendronotid_Nudibranchs

 

[cjdevito]

I think you're right, good catch. I just went through Dr Rudman's species listing for all the dendronotids and I've still got little as to a species ID though. There are a couple possible contenders that stick out like Tritoniopsis frydis or t. elegans, but all are kinda iffy. Some because of locale (specific to australia, specific to the caribbean, etc), some because of observed diet (looks are quite close but diet is supposed to be strictly gorgonians, etc).

 

[bohannbj]

I had one that looked just like that a month ago. It ate a ton of weird nasty algae I have never had before (slimy string) then died. It never touched the zoos or pineapple coral. Fish are 4 percs, kole tang, and a flame angel. Also have a trio of cleaner shrimp, pair of harlequins, and a rogue acro crab. Any chance they took him out?

 

[Elysia]

Lack of food probably did in your nudi, bohannbj. They aren't omnivores.