driven to kill! (or, nudibranchs on parade)...

[krullulon]

here's a good argument for quarantining that new livestock:

i pulled 8 of these suckers off my polyp rock today as they were happily munching on my super-cool bright yellow and bright orange polyps.

interestingly enough, their barbs glowed bright yellow or bright orange under the actinics. damn their zooxanthellae stealing eyes! @_@

 

[John_Brandt]

Expect more of them. There may be tiny ones that you missed and eggs were possibly laid.

 

[liquid]

If you can, setup a small nano tank for them. They'd be cool to keep.

Shane

 

[ChrisRD]

Keep them. There are plenty of SPS keepers out there who'd love to have a bunch of these guys to help out with zoanthid control in their tanks...

 

[krullulon]

that's a great idea! they're currently cooling their heels in my QT.

they really do look very cool under the actinics...

 

[cdeakle]

What exactly are these guys?

 

[ricky1414]

They are Schistocerca americana, or saltwater grasshoppers.

 

[krullulon]

actually, they're aeolid nudibranchs most likely of the family aeolidiidae http://www.seaslugforum.net/spurneap.htm

they incorporate the zooxanthellae of the polyps they eat into their cerata (the barbs on their back) which is why they ones i captured were flourescing orange and yellow (they were eating orange and yellow polyps).

i'm working on getting a more informed ID from the sea slug forum...

 

[Baalz]

krullulon
I am one of those SPS keepers that has been searching for these nudies along with the sundial snails. I would gladly take all you could collect

Thanks

 

[Mouse]

arn't these guys like the bhergus Nudi's that eat aptasia

 

[krullulon]

krullulon
I am one of those SPS keepers that has been searching for these nudies along with the sundial snails. I would gladly take all you could collect

Thanks

i'm going to try keeping these guys in a 1-gallon. a few bit the dust already, but i threw a polyp in there to see if they'll eat it... if i'm successful and they breed, i'd be happy to send a bunch your way!

arn't these guys like the bhergus Nudi's that eat aptasia

very similar to berghias, but instead of being specialized for aptasia these particular nudis are specialized for zooanthids. 8O the berghias are silver-gray-blue, but these guys are brown/purple/rust with flourescent red/orange/yellow cerata.

 

[gabemerrill]

I have a few of these guys as well. I remove them as soon as I find them, but if anyone in the Hampton Roads area of VA wants some let me know and I'll save them next time they appear.