Purple Nudibranch

[Paulca916]

Thought I would post a pic of my alien...
Im just learning how to post pics
Image Hosting

 

[greenbean36191]

It's Hyselodoris bullocki and feeds exclusively on dysideid sponges. It's harmless but impossible to keep alive.

 

[Paulca916]

Thanks for the info.
I got him saturday I will look into ordering dysideid sponges.
I do have a couple sponges growing wild in my reef now one's yellow and ones white not sure what they are I will see if he decides to eat them.
Thanks again

 

[greenbean36191]

You won't be able to order the sponges. The only way to get them would be as hitchhikers on rock, but chances of being able to find a single specimen of the right one, much less enough to keep the slug fed long-term are essentially 0.

 

[MartinEric]

Pretty hitchhiker though.

 

[Paulca916]

He was all over the back wall of my tank and seems to be grazing on algae at least I hope so ..
Kinda bums me out I was looking at ordering some other ones

 

[LeslieH]

Most nudibranchs have very specific diets, whether it's a certain type of sponge, coral, tunicate, etc. For most of them we have a general idea of what they might be eating but being able to supply the specific food item is nearly impossible. In the cases where we do know it's usually some kind of valuable or useful critter like a soft coral or tunicate. I don't know if they are targeted by collectors in the field or if they arrive at the LFS as hitch hikers. Either way it's a pity that LFS sell them at all.