White slug-like thing
- Thread starter wwarby
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That's a nudibranch, probably a Dermatobranchus sp., but a top down pic of its back would be helpful for ID.I’ve noticed this little critter on the glass of my tank a couple of times recently. It’s about an inch long and seems to just amble around slowly like a snail? Get rid or leave it alone?
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Cant see clearly on phone screen but may be caulerpa slug. Remove and discardI’ve noticed this little critter on the glass of my tank a couple of times recently. It’s about an inch long and seems to just amble around slowly like a snail? Get rid or leave it alone?
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wwarby
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Thanks - I'd say this image of the species you mentioned is very close to what I'm seeing with my eyes but can't quite capture on my phone. I'll try to get a better picture if I can yank it out of the tank for a minute tomorrow, but assuming that's the right ID, should I keep it? I have inverts and corals that I don't want eaten, but I won't remove it if it poses no threat.
The Dermatobranchus genus is known for eating octocorals (soft corals, gorgonians, etc.) and/including GSP, so if you have softies/GSP, that’s likely a remove nudibranch.
Yotero6933
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I have the same nudibranch in my tank and I’ve never put corals in there yet it has been alive for over 2 months. It has to be eating something else in order to sustain itself right?
Do you have any pics of it under white light (preferably straight-on, top-down pics of the slug's back and straight-on side pics both showing the full length of the slug under white light)?
I ask because a lot of nudibranch's (and other marine life) can look incredibly similar.
Honestly if they didn't eat softies and gorgonians too, I'd have encouraged people to farm them by now.Oh no...something that eats GSP...the horror...
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The solution we've been looking for!Oh no...something that eats GSP...the horror...
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If I'm not mistaken, some nudibranch species are photosynthetic. Maybe that's what @Yotero6933's nudibranch is doing?
Some species (such as Berghia stephanieae) can steal some of the zooxanthellae from their prey and temporarily use them as a food source/for photosynthesis, but it is temporary. This generally only works for a few days though (for B. stephanieae, it only lasts 8 days without food containing more zooxanthellae before the zooxanthellae they've stolen die off).* So, it could delay starvation, but it's really more of an emergency supply than a permanent food source for nudibranchs.
That said, I'd guess the slug they have is either a different species that looks similar but has a different diet, or was somehow only recently introduced to the tank.
*Source:
Prevalence and Photobiology of Photosynthetic Dinoflagellate Endosymbionts in the Nudibranch Berghia stephanieae
Some sea slugs have evolved highly specialized feeding habits and solely prey upon a reduced number of species. This is the case of Berghia stephanieae, a sea slug that feeds exclusively on glass anemones, such as Exaiptasia diaphana. Glass anemones host ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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