Voluntary Nudibranch

[Mike Murphy]

My 125 gas been going for about 4 months now and a couple of days ago I was amazed to find a 1 inch white nudibranch crawling around. Just did a water change so maybe that flushed him out of hiding. Had to have been a juvinile or an egg or something on the live rock. It is amazing what shows up after a few months of setting up a new reef tank.

 

[a4twenty]

Re: Voluntary Nudibranch

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13771687#post13771687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mike Murphy
It is amazing what shows up after a few months of setting up a new reef tank.

you'll be saying that for years to come


should have grabbed a pic, try to get one if you see him again.

 

[Mike Murphy]

Pic did not come out well but I found a second one. Do these reproduce in captivity easily? The second one is slightly smaller.

 

[a4twenty]

hard to say without a proper ID, they are usually very specific eaters so try to find what they are eating.

 

[Mike Murphy]

photo

photo

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f233/marine1954/

Here's the link to the pic. This is the larger of the two and it seems to crawl around eating diatoms, algae etc.

It seems to grow very quickly. I have read the life expentancy is about 12 months?

If there are two in the tank then I am assuming they will reproduce? The fish don't seem to bother them and as long as I do not put an angel or butterfly in the tank they are prbably safe with current tankmates.

 

[Mike Murphy]

Is this type of nudibranch dangerous to zoos and other soft coral? It does not appear to be bothering or even the least bit interested in my zoos.

 

[oldreefer76]

 

[a4twenty]

i can't find it , could you circle it??

 

[Mike Murphy]

Look to the left of the devils hand coral just above it on the rock . It is white.

 

[a4twenty]

ok i see him, not sure what he is. nudi's usually take in the colour of whatever they are eating. your best bet may be to do a stake out and find out what exactly this guy eats. they are rarely a good thing to have as they are very specific eaters that usually eat until there is nothing left then die.

there are many species of nudi and yes some do eat corals so start taking a really close look at all your coral when they are closed.

sorry i can't identify the little guy but finding his food source will do that for us.

 

[pagojoe]

A4twenty is right, many nudi's look like their prey. In this case, I think it probably might not, as I believe that's a tritoniid or dendronotid nudibranch. From the single view, my best guess is Tritoniopsis elegans. Greenbean36191 (Mike) had this to say about these nudis: "I've also kept Tritoniopsis elegans which isn't a dorid, but is still pretty. It's an obligate feeder on leather corals, which means it's not reef safe, but it can be kept alive in captivity as long as you're willing to supply it with corals occasionally."

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1507232&highlight=Tritoniopsis+elegans

Here's the fact sheet from the Sea Slug Forum with some additional info. You can compare the pics to your nudi and see if looks like a good match.

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=Triteleg

Cheers,




Don

 

[Mike Murphy]

Yes It looks just like the tritoniopsis elegans. I have a great deal of small tunicates throughout the tank. My guess is that is the food source then. Have not seen them around my soft corals yet.

 

[pagojoe]

You might want to check under your soft corals just in case. You may have more of them than you realize.

Cheers,



Don

 

[a4twenty]

thank you for the help Don, though now i have more reading and research to do

i agree, keep looking for the food source.