Is it possible to buy one of these?

[reefs4life]

I just came across this really cool nudibranch which, due to it's feeding habits, would be a great candidate for a reef tank since it doesn't require any special food source. Here it is: http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/solarpow

 

[Imbarrie]

I have read that some are poisonous and when they die they release the poison throughout the tank. I think they are really cool and interesting but would be concerned about them killing my tank.

 

[noodleman]

do you mean the lettice nudibranch?

 

[reefs4life]

I don't think lettuce nudibranchs are photosynthetic, someone correct me if I'm wrong

 

[beerfish]

These aren't photosynthetic. The zooxanthellae obtained from an external diet is producing food photosynthetically, and these nudibranches have adapted themselves to be able to use the food produced by the zooxanthellae.

Without the intake of an external food to occasionally replenish the zooxanthellae and or plastids that produce these sugars, my guess is that they wouldn't survive.

Still VERY cool!

 

[Imbarrie]

Lettuce leafs are photosynthetic and they are not.
They utilize the byproduct of the chlorophyl from their diet of a specific algae. The chloroplasts still require light but the slug cannot maintain this so they are constantly replacing it.

So the slugs are not photosynthetic but the chlorophyl they depend upon is.

And, they depend on a highly specialized diet.
Also, they are not real nudibranchs.


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[SevTT]

Lettuce leafs are photosynthetic and they are not.
They utilize the byproduct of the chlorophyl from their diet of a specific algae. The chloroplasts still require light but the slug cannot maintain this so they are constantly replacing it.

So the slugs are not photosynthetic but the chlorophyl they depend upon is.

And, they depend on a highly specialized diet.
Also, they are not real nudibranchs.


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Lettuce sea slugs are indeed as you describe; they harvest chloroplasts from their prey algae and use them to produce sugars for themselves.

However, there's another group of sea slugs that are born with and grow chloroplasts, like a plant does. THey've recently been mentioned in a few places; I remember reading an article about it a couple of weeks ago.

 

[reefman]

This green slug, which is part animal and part plant, produces its own chlorophyll and so can carry out photosynthesis, turning sunlight into energy, scientists have found. Credit: Nicholas E. Curtis and Ray Martinez

 

[Paul B]

I wrote this article about lettuce slugs a few years ago. Elysia Crispata or lettuce slugs are not nudibranchs, they are slugs. Nudibranchs are carnivorous, slugs are vegetarian
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/baldassano2004/SolarPoweredSlug.htm

 

[Imbarrie]

Nudibranch litterally means nude bronchi. This refers to external breathing apperatus. The slug is misstakenly referred to as a nudi because of it's ruffeled chloroplast appendages. The only purpose these serve the slug is to maximize the surface area for UV efficiency for digestion not for respiration.


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