Lettuce nudibranch reproducing?

[ngoodermuth]

I added a couple lettuce nudibranch to my tank to help keep algae under control while my herbivores were in QT.

Not long after adding them, one got sucked into a powerhead and shredded. RIP little guy, or so I thought? We removed most of the pieces after the incident, but a few days later I saw the "head" stuck to a piece of rock. It made me kind of sad, but it was gone the next day and I figured my hermits took care of it.

The other is still doing well, getting fairly large in fact.

But, how do they reproduce? Are they asexual?

The reason I ask, I just found this guy attached to the glass...munching away. Did the head grow a new body??? (Weird) or is this a baby?

 

[KJ]

http://eol.org/pages/452030/details
http://breedersregistry.org/journal...-slug-spawning-in-a-100-gallon-reef-aquarium/

 

[ngoodermuth]

Interesting, so maybe it is a baby then...and not a zombie slug!

 

[Sabellafella]

Interesting, so maybe it is a baby then...and not a zombie slug!

They breed fairy quickly from what ive soaked in over the years,although i never owned them. But theyre sure pretty =)

 

[ngoodermuth]

Yea, they are neat little critters. This is the first time I've had them, though I don't suspect that will last long once the wrasses get back in the the tank [emoji15]

 

[xjiang7]

I cannot keep these cuties for long. They seem to be picky eaters. Hope yours remain healthy

 

[Paul B]

That's a baby, they become dozens of them. They also won't eat your algae. They look like they are, but they lie. They are also not nudibranches, they are slugs, completely different animal somewhat like the difference between a duck billed platypus and an emu. Kind of.

 

[Reef man 89]

That's a baby, they become dozens of them. They also won't eat your algae. They look like they are, but they lie. They are also not nudibranches, they are slugs, completely different animal somewhat like the difference between a duck billed platypus and an emu. Kind of.

Really. I have read somewere that they are great for eating algea. So them what do they eat?

 

[40B Knasty]

I just picked one up this Sunday. Very cool critters for sure. Took it 2 days to get to what it eats, bryopsis. What I was told is that they can live up to 3-5 weeks from photosynthesis. Then they die if there is no more new bryopsis. When they are weak or stressed they free float.
I have a 5 1/2" yellow & purple wrasse that does not bother it. They are nasty tasting to fish from what I was told also.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I have a small amount of bryopsis left, though most of it is dying off now. I'm not sure it is eating it, but the "mother" was hanging around the few patches I have. If they really do suck the chloroplasts from the algae (not hair algae, but the leafier kinds) wouldn't that kill the algae? So, maybe not eating it directly but still weakening it so that it starves itself out?

 

[40B Knasty]

I have a small amount of byprosis left, though most of it is dying off now. I'm not sure it is eating it, but the "mother" was hanging around the few patches I have. If they really do suck the chloroplasts from the algae (not hair algae, but the leafier kinds) wouldn't that kill the algae? So, maybe not eating it directly but still weakening it so that it starves itself out?

Honestly I am not sure. First time with one. I am worried it is not going to get in between all the zoanthid Polyps that the bryopsis has decided to setup shop in. It seems like they are not the cure, but an aid for it. I was even thinking about popping the frag off the rock and scrape the overgrowth of the zoanthid on the live rock and H²O² dip the frag. Make more frags with the over grow. Dip the small spot of bryopsis on the LR.
Bryopsis can get bad and I have heard of people rebooting their whole tank due to it.

 

[Paul B]

I wrote that article linked above. As babies they suck juice out of bryopsis and kill it. Then as adults they live on light. They sit on hair algae but don't eat it that is a rumor that has been circulating forever.
I had hundreds of them in a 2 gallon tank filled with hair algae. They did nothing to it but if I added bryopsis, they killed it in an hour

 

[ngoodermuth]

Well good, I'm not really worried about the hair algae...my nutrients are pretty low so it's not really thriving. But the bryopsis was spreading a little faster than I'd like, so if the babies kill it they are OK in my book

 

[Paul B]

Then you are good to go because that's all they eat. But it will take them forever to eat a good supply of the stuff.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I like em too!

 

[Huge49erfan]

I added a couple lettuce nudibranch to my tank to help keep algae under control while my herbivores were in QT.

Not long after adding them, one got sucked into a powerhead and shredded. RIP little guy, or so I thought? We removed most of the pieces after the incident, but a few days later I saw the "head" stuck to a piece of rock. It made me kind of sad, but it was gone the next day and I figured my hermits took care of it.

The other is still doing well, getting fairly large in fact.

But, how do they reproduce? Are they asexual?

The reason I ask, I just found this guy attached to the glass...munching away. Did the head grow a new body??? (Weird) or is this a baby?

I had the same exact thing happen.

Mine got chopped in my powerhead. I removed what I could except for 1 small piece that I thought my hermits would have eaten, but they didn't. After a couple of days it was still there. I looked today and it was in a different spot and it had grown its antennae back.

Zombie Nudi for sure.