fishgooddolphinbad
New Member
I took this out of my tank just to be safe but what is this guy?
Can someone ID this please?
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Long story short, it’s most likely safe for your tank.
^+1 to what Rtaylor said above. Definitely a nudibranch, and it does look similar to Elysia abei, but I don’t think that’s what it actually is. Like they said, there are a ton of nudibranch species (and very few of them are well researched/documented) so ID’ing them is very difficult if they’re not one of the best known species.
Again, as Rtaylor said, their diets are usually incredibly specific, so most nudibranchs starve in people’s tanks because we just can’t feed them. Some of them, however, like the Sarcoglossan “nudibranchs” (they’re not actually nudibranchs, they’re known as “sap-sucking slugs”) of the Elysia (“Lettuce Slugs”) and related genuses actually feed on algae (and in some cases, chloroplasts). Either way, most nudibranchs are totally safe for our tanks, but a few of them eat corals (such as zoas and palythoas), sponges, or other things we’d prefer go untouched.
If you know how it got into your tank, you might be able to figure out what it eats, but there’s no guarantee. Even if you got a “bad one,” though, there is no guarantee it would eat your corals or anything (studies on zoanthid eating nudibranchs have shown they only eat/have incredibly strong preferences for specific species of zoanthids, so even if you got a bad one it might just starve regardless).
Sorry I can’t give a specific ID, but I hope this helps.
^+1 to what Rtaylor said above. Definitely a nudibranch, and it does look similar to Elysia abei, but I don’t think that’s what it actually is. Like they said, there are a ton of nudibranch species (and very few of them are well researched/documented) so ID’ing them is very difficult if they’re not one of the best known species.
Again, as Rtaylor said, their diets are usually incredibly specific, so most nudibranchs starve in people’s tanks because we just can’t feed them. Some of them, however, like the Sarcoglossan “nudibranchs” (they’re not actually nudibranchs, they’re known as “sap-sucking slugs”) of the Elysia (“Lettuce Slugs”) and related genuses actually feed on algae (and in some cases, chloroplasts). Either way, most nudibranchs are totally safe for our tanks, but a few of them eat corals (such as zoas and palythoas), sponges, or other things we’d prefer go untouched.
If you know how it got into your tank, you might be able to figure out what it eats, but there’s no guarantee. Even if you got a “bad one,” though, there is no guarantee it would eat your corals or anything (studies on zoanthid eating nudibranchs have shown they only eat/have incredibly strong preferences for specific species of zoanthids, so even if you got a bad one it might just starve regardless).
Sorry I can’t give a specific ID, but I hope this helps.
fishgooddolphinbad
New Member
I found him on the wall of my fish tank. I removed him but idk if he will survive and if I should put him back in my tank because I don't want to kill him
fishgooddolphinbad
New Member
Thank you so much this does help. Should I put him back in my tank since I have a lot of algae? I do have corals tho.
I can’t say for sure since I don’t know the ID or what else is in your tank, but odds are relatively high that it would be alright in your tank.
If it is an algae eater it may have specific preferences still (some lettuce slugs only eat specific calcified macroalgaes, for example), so I’d just say if you put it back in to keep an eye on it and see what it does. If it eats anything (which it might not), document it and remove the slug from your tank if necessary. If it does turn out to be a bad one, you can see about donating it to a research facility or something.
