ID please

[Lenny718]

Just snooping through my tank while the lights were off and I stumbled across this strange looking creature, it's all black with a slit on the top which I'm assuming is its mouth. In all my years I've never seen one in my tank, any ideas?

 

[Lenny718]

 

[Reef Trends]

It's a nudibranch (scientific name Tambja capensis).

 

[heuerfan]

Actually its called a scutus, love these guys.

Rare to find, i'll take him if you don't want him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutus

 

[marrone]

I have a number of them in my tanks. They're very harmless, as they only eat algae, and they only come out when the lights are off. They usually come in on rocks, though there is a place that sells them online.

 

[theMeat]

Agreed, looks like a scutus. To know for sure it will occasionally expose it's small thin whitish shell, which will look like a stripe down it's back. Althou if calcium is low in the tank it may loose its shell.
Far as I know may it eat zoas and other soft stuff, but also eats algae. When small, if you see no damage, it prolly does more good than bad. When large, and they can get pretty large, the damage will prolly increase, and they are more able to bulldoze stuff around. See no problem with keeping them. They don't multiply quick and become a problem, and if you have a strain that gets large, simply take em out when they get large.

 

[heuerfan]

Far as I know may it eat zoas and other soft stuff, but also eats algae.

In my experience they do not eat zoanthids or other soft corals. When I had them my tank was full of zoos, softys and lps...

They also don't bulldoze corals around like mexican turbo snails. They are the phantoms in our tanks..........

 

[theMeat]

In my experience they do not eat zoanthids or other soft corals. When I had them my tank was full of zoos, softys and lps...

They also don't bulldoze corals around like mexican turbo snails. They are the phantoms in our tanks..........

Agreed, that has been my experience as well. Just sharing what I've heard. Would guess they are often mis identified, and there's likely different strains that grow to different sizes and have different likes as far as diet.

 

[marrone]

They doesn't eat zoas or other soft corals, they're strictly an algae eater. I've had them in my tanks for years, they even bred too. They're actually pretty graceful and don't knock over any corals. They're actually a plus to have in the tank.

 

[theMeat]

They're also thought to consume sponge

Once saw one that came in with an Aussie shipment that had to be 5 inches. With tell tale skinny white shell under skin flaps

About 10 years ago had an Aussie friend at the house who spotted one in my tank. Who then commented that some locals back home actually eat them

 

[marrone]

I have plenty of sponges in my tank and I've never seem them eat it or had any missing. They strictly go after algae, most of the time they're on the glass. They do get pretty large, not as big as some of the larger cowries, but when they come out in the open they take up a lot of space. You can get a good sense of how large they are when they go onto the glass. The shot out eggs and sperm like some of the other snails do.

As for eating them, well they're a type of slug so unless they're poisonous you can probably cook them like a snail.

 

[marrone]

Here's a link to something on them:

http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/scutus

Like I said, I had them for years and once they go they can be hard to find for sale, as currently I know of only one place that sells them.

 

[Lenny718]

Thanks for the info guys, very interesting.