green lettuce nudibranch (gross slime)

[petoonia]

I picked up a green lettuce nudibranch today.After acclimating it, we pulled it out of the bag to put in the tank, it had a ton of slime hanging off of it, and the water in the bag was almost like gel. We got as little as possible in the tank. Is this a normal reaction? Does anyone know if this slime could be toxic?

Thanks!!!

 

[lemures-ex]

It's not toxic and they do create a lot of slime. I have two in my sump and they slime all over the place

Just a side note, the Lettuce Slug is commonly reffered to as a Nudibranch but in actuality is not. It is simply a slug.

Nudis are a specific branch of slug that is carnivorous. The Lettuce eat algae.

 

[LeslieH]

Many opistobranchs have mantle glands which secrete mucus and/ or chemical defenses when irritated. There are 3 species of Lettuce Slugs - Elysia clarki (from Florida), Elysia crispata (Caribbean), and Elysia diomedea (east Pacific) - and like other species of Elysia the mucus does includes chemicals taken from the plants they eat. It's thought that the toxins are used to drive off predators & so they're not as strong as sea cucumber toxins which can create serious problems in a tank. Having just one Elysia in your tank should be fine.