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View Full Version : ID Creature? I can catch it now if it bad...Please reply


mosssw
11/05/2008, 04:10 PM
It is a little more then 1/3 inch long. What is it and is it good or bad?

Thank you

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/191819CREATURE.jpg

crpeck
11/05/2008, 04:17 PM
It's a nudibranch. I don't know what kind.

Any good that the one could do if it is a good one doesn't stack up against the extreme bad that it can do if it is a bad one.

If he's on the glass and you have an opportunity to get it, I'd at least isolate it until you get an expert answer on what kind it is.

Sugar Magnolia
11/05/2008, 05:35 PM
Those guys are typically predatory and species specific. Definitely needs to be removed. Try posting in the invert forum to see if anyone can give you a more specific ID.

mosssw
11/05/2008, 07:54 PM
This is of his back.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/191819Creat2.jpg

crpeck
11/05/2008, 08:18 PM
You might look around the WetWeb Media site to see if any pictures or descriptions match up:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nudiidfaqs.htm

There's one about halfway down the page posted in June of 03 that looks a lot like yours. The advice on that one was to remove because it was predatory.

There are some nudibranchs that are beautiful and useful. I've had lettuce nudibranchs and enjoyed watching them. A lot of people look for and buy the kind that eat aptasia.

BUT ... I've also had whole colonies of zoanthids and montipora wiped out by their respective predatory nudibranchs so if I didn't buy them as reef safe, I'd probably assume a hitchiker one should go.

The one you have is really big. They don't move fast so they'll tend to find whatever it is they like to eat and blend in, hang out and chow down. They can be hard to spot because they do tend to take on the color of whatever they live in and eat.

Good luck. Let us know if you find out.

jamest0o0
11/05/2008, 08:21 PM
Like mentioned above, they are usually the color of whatever they are eating.

crpeck
11/05/2008, 08:26 PM
p.s. I went back and found pictures I took of the nudibranchs that were eating my zoanthids. If yours is the same as this, you have a problem if you have zoanthids in your tank.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/TgKOnuIF_96DRY4R7Ov3jQ"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_2NsBbDJyUzs/SRJU_pnAY7I/AAAAAAAACQw/eoQcDLNrHwk/s800/zoanthidnudi.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/cathyrpeck/FishPictures">Fish pictures</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/-Fd0A8pnHh2sNsMPE36dvw"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2NsBbDJyUzs/SRJVDwAOtmI/AAAAAAAACQ4/bt79VubN_fw/s800/zoanthidnudi2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/cathyrpeck/FishPictures">Fish pictures</a></td></tr></table>

pagojoe
11/06/2008, 02:37 PM
Yeah, it does look a lot like the zoanthid-eating nudibranchs. I thought one of the experts might jump in on the other thread with a better ID than I can give, but since they haven't... it's an aeolid nudibranch, and most likely is eating something you don't want it to eat, as the others said above. The ones that eat Montipora look similar, as do some other coral eaters. You probably want to keep an eye out for more of them, since they often come in as eggs on the food species.

Cheers,



Don

singold
11/06/2008, 02:46 PM
+1 Zoa Eating Nudibranch. I would remove for sure.