Lettuce Sea slug toxic?

[Calappidae]

I know they aren't true nudibranch but are they toxic? I'm thinking about putting one in my mini-reef but I don't want something to happen to it and it dies killing everything..

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

It won't be a problem at all.

 

[Calappidae]

And I'm guessing they ONLY eat bryopsis?

 

[Paul B]

I raised hundreds of them in my reef. No problem

 

[Calappidae]

I only have hair algae, no byopsis. Would they still be alright or no?

 

[Paul B]

The younger ones suck the juices out of bryopsis, the older ones are photosynthetic.

I wrote an article about them here. http://seaslugforum.net/find/11846

 

[Calappidae]

So basicly If I get them full grown then my 13 soilderless rapidled lights will support them and thats it?

 

[MHG]

I had one who ate the bypropsys but spent more time wondering around and getting sucked into my MP10"s.... So apparently they don't have a good grip...

 

[Calappidae]

Everything in mine is screened off for my harlequin shrimp's safety so I can take advantage with this

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

I wrote an article about them here. http://seaslugforum.net/find/11846

Paul B you are the Man!:dance:

 

[Paul B]

Well I'm a Man. A Manly man, but still a man

 

[Flashy Fins]

Paul, I notice the photos in your article look very different from the lettuce slug I had, which did eat hair algae, but perished after a couple of months in my tank. Do you think mine was some other species?

 

[Paul B]

Yes yours is definately a slug but I don't think it was Eliscia Crispata or lettuce slug. But I am not a slug expert.

 

[Calappidae]

There are two types, there is the more common atlantic lettuce slug, and there is the pacific atlantic slug... yours is the pacific Elysia diomedea. Also only eats bryopsis

 

[Flashy Fins]

Thanks so much! Spot on, and I now have an answer for why he looked so different than other lettuce slugs I've seen for sale. I got him from a shop that gets a large portion of their stock from Hawaii. His death did occur after my hair algae was wiped out, so I had a feeling that was his only food source in the tank. I think the Pacific type is much more attractive than the other, but nothing is attractive once it's dead. I now know not to buy another.

 

[Calappidae]

Are you sure it was hair algae?

 

[pagojoe]

Most species of Elysia, including this one, may feed on more than one species of algae. Bryopsis is probably the preferred food, though, judging by the records on the Sea Slug Forum.


Don

 

[Flashy Fins]

Are you sure it was hair algae?

Never gave it much thought, but now that you ask, I realize I am not sure. It was algae that looked hairy to me. Looking through old photos, I'm able to find this one showing the algae:

The tank was very new at the time. I did not get the lettuce slug to take care of the algae, but rather, because he was cute. I'd read they ate algae and felt he would do fine because of that, not realizing he might only eat a specific type.

 

[Calappidae]

Also they need high lighting.

To me that looks like bryopsis