Federation or Romulan ?

OK, I can see its a slug, but friend or foe? (eitherway it will starve in my tank, and will need to find a home ASAP)

 

No idea but you are right that it will most likely starve in the tank if it is Federation.

 

Ribbon worm, perhaps, very cool. Did you add anything new to the tank?

Does it spread out like a sea slug?

Worm Hitch Hikers

 

yeah it spreads out like a slug...I think my sorry photography isn't clear...I'm 99% certain its a nudibranch (You just can't see the classic slug foot or the antennae from my pic)

 

Then look at this site, you may have to hunt. Moderator Inwall might know.

The Sea Slug Forum - Nudibranch Behaviour

 

From what I can see, it may be a black-lined sea slug. Sea slugs are not generally considered reef-safe, as many will eat sponges, polyps, and sessile inverts. They also require a special diet and are usually short-lived in an aquarium.

 

here are a few better shots

 

Yes, it's a nudibranch, but it's not just the normal dorid or aeolid that turns up in reef tanks. It's looks to be a phyllidiid, the family that is known for poisoning reef tanks. It will be a sponge eater. I don't know about this particular species, but some close relatives have made people sick that were just breathing the air in the room that housed the tank. You can search The Sea Slug Forum - Home Page for some of the stories about these animals. (All that said, I kept a couple for several months without any ill effects, when I didn't know better...but, in retrospect, it seems like it's probably not a great idea).

Cheers,



Don

 

The Sea Slug Forum - Phyllidiopsis shireenae
The Sea Slug Forum - Phyllidiella hageni

Excerpt (there are several other places on the forum with additional info):

"It is interesting to hear of the potent smell of the chemicals released by the skin glands of this species. I think they are probably the very isonitriles which have been isolated from some phyllidiid species. I think I have mentioned elsewhere walking into a lab one morning to find the room filled with an acrid smell which soon had my eyes watering. It came from a pair of Phyllidia varicosa in an aquarium who had killed all life in their tank by exuding these sponge metabolites from their glands. That is why I don't recommend them as aquarium 'pets'."

 

Nice job, pagojoe! :thumb_up: