Elysia hedgpethi????

[afboundguy]

2nd time I've found one of these guys in my tank. Nothing wrong with the tank everything looks awesome. I have been using NSW for water changes (northeastern MA) and someone in my local club thought it might have been elysia hedgpethi, which is a sea slug that eats algae. Any thoughts or other possible IDs?

And if it is elysia hedgpethi are they reef safe?

 

[EvanDeVita]

If you can, let it grow out somewhere outside of the DT. It's definitely some kind of nudibranch. When it grows and becomes more defined and mature, it'll be easier to identify. Some Nudibranchs are good (like the lettuce and berghia nudibrach), but some are bad for the tank and eat corals.

 

[Soren]

It definitely looks like some type of Elysia, but there are a lot of species with similar coloration.

 

[EvanDeVita]

It definitely looks like some type of Elysia, but there are a lot of species with similar coloration.

is that the same as a nudibranch?

 

[Soren]

is that the same as a nudibranch?

I think Elysia is actually a sea slug rather than a nudibranch. From what I read about them, they are considered solar powered sea slugs since they usually contain zooxanthellae.

 

[kvinnyy]

This is exactly what I found in one of my tanks. Have you found out what these critters actually are? And are they reef safe?

 

[Rmckoy]

With most nudis in mind .
Their diet is strictly one particular thing .

I’d be worried that what it’s feeding on in the dt , possibly wouldn’t be available in a qt .

if unknown diet the common decision is to remove it .
I’m interested to see what species this is as there are some very interesting ones in all ranges of colours