Tank move! Unknown Nudibranch?? Keep or no.

[Trixter227]

Tank brake down/move and i found these guys after all was removed. About 5. Small yellow they have small raised bit on there back.

 

[JoJosReef]

They have the form of a lettuce slug, but way too yellow. I wouldn't imagine malnourished lettuce slugs would live and breed so long unbeknownst to you.

@ISpeakForTheSeas does this look like some Elysia species?

 

[Trixter227]

They have the form of a lettuce slug, but way too yellow. I wouldn't imagine malnourished lettuce slugs would live and breed so long unbeknownst to you.

@ISpeakForTheSeas does this look like some Elysia species?

Thank you.
In this tank i have a bit of random algea present, not sure if they only eat a specific type or not. But yes definitely unknown. I haven't added/changed anything in this tank for 6+months. They are pretty neat. I found a total of 4. I imagine there was alot more but we didemt notice untill we sucked 90% if thr sand/water out.

 

[Trixter227]

They have the form of a lettuce slug, but way too yellow. I wouldn't imagine malnourished lettuce slugs would live and breed so long unbeknownst to you.

@ISpeakForTheSeas does this look like some Elysia species?

Oh wow they do look very much like lettuce slug. Only 1 i saw had some speckles. Maybe juvenile? I have no idea on nudi lifecycle.

 

[OrchidMiss]

Elysia marginata | Nudibranch Domain

nudibranchdomain.org

Here's a great resource for nudibranchs

 

[Trixter227]

Elysia marginata | Nudibranch Domain

nudibranchdomain.org

Here's a great resource for nudibranchs

Nice! Thank you for the link!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

They have the form of a lettuce slug, but way too yellow. I wouldn't imagine malnourished lettuce slugs would live and breed so long unbeknownst to you.

@ISpeakForTheSeas does this look like some Elysia species?

Yeah, those are definitely an Elysia species:

Elysia flava or E. obtusa - harmless/beneficial Sacoglossan slugs. They're herbivores, with E. obtusa known to feed on Bryopsis, while E. Flava is thought to feed on Cladophora.

Reading up on some of the culture methods for some species in the genus, I would guess they can feed on other algae, but they won't be in good enough health to reproduce/for the young to survive without their preferred macro.

 

[Vested]

Sarcoglossans! They are awesome keep them, their flaps are photosynthetic. They eat specific algae, will probably not last long anyways.

 

[Vested]

“These are indeed Sarcoglassans, the parapodia (flaps) give it away. All Sarcoglassa have parapodia designed to deploy and absorb sunlight for photosynthesis during seasons when food is not abundant. As such they can go months without actually consuming anything.”

 

[Trixter227]

Sarcoglossans! They are awesome keep them, their flaps are photosynthetic. They eat specific algae, will probably not last long anyways.

! Wow thats fun, do you know what specific algea they eat? I would love to keep them. I have a diffrent tank with a macro refugium. Thats where they are currently

 

[Vested]

! Wow thats fun, do you know what specific algea they eat? I would love to keep them. I have a diffrent tank with a macro refugium. Thats where they are currently

I dont know unfortunately, when I had them they seemed to be eating a green slime? But that was a total guess. @ISpeakForTheSeas said they may eat bryopsis which would be awesome, did the tank they were in have bryopsis?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

! Wow thats fun, do you know what specific algea they eat? I would love to keep them. I have a diffrent tank with a macro refugium. Thats where they are currently

I dont know unfortunately, when I had them they seemed to be eating a green slime? But that was a total guess. @ISpeakForTheSeas said they may eat bryopsis which would be awesome, did the tank they were in have bryopsis?

Yeah, the specific algae eaten depends on the specific species of slug. As mentioned, OP, yours will either eat Bryopsis or Cladophora as the preferred/required feed, but they may also go for other kinds of algae with less health benefits if they accept them at all:

Some lettuce slugs (typically from the genus Elysia) will eat nuisance algae species, but their wild diet varies pretty drastically from one species to another, and some species have some pretty specific wild diets (I don’t know if these are required diets or preferred diets, but Reef Cleaners reports that they'll eat just about any green, fleshy algae). That said, Elysia slugs generally feed on siphonalean algae such as Caulerpa, Codium, Acetabularia, Halimeda, Udotea, Byropsis, and Valonia spp.

 

[Trixter227]

I dont know unfortunately, when I had them they seemed to be eating a green slime? But that was a total guess. @ISpeakForTheSeas said they may eat bryopsis which would be awesome, did the tank they were in have bryopsis?

Yes i did, definitely lol! I will monitor and see if i can find them in the refugium.

 

[Vested]

Yes i did, definitely lol! I will monitor and see if i can find them in the refugium.

Thats super interesting if your able to confirm thats what they eat please let me know!