Slug - Good or bad

Not seen this little fella for a couple of months but popped up again today.

Any ideas what it is and whether its reef safe

Thanks in advance

 

Looks to be an elysia crispata, aka lettuce sea slug, or some other in the genus. They eat algae, then store the chloroplasts in their bodies, letting them photosynthesize carbs just like algae. Totally reef safe.

 

Was hoping it was a lettuce slug. Like I said its been in the tank for a few months but haven't seen it for atleast 2 of them, there doesnt seem to be any evidence of it eating any corals to date but you never know.

Many thanks for the ID

 

Sorry, it appears to be a species of Dermatobranchus. The whole family are specialized predators on soft corals and gorgonians. Here's a similar one The Sea Slug Forum - Dermatobranchus albus

 

Yep that does look very similar :/

Great link, thankyou for that. Now I will have to wait for it to surface again.

 

I just found this same looking slug in my tank(Hitchhiker), so are we saying that he will eat soft corals if left in the tank? havent seen him in a few days.

 

Yes it will eat soft corals or gorgonians. Most nudibranchs/sea slugs look like what they eat. They are specialized eaters and with few exceptions will eat anything else. Best to remove them until an accurate ID can be made. While I do not advocate removing all hitch hikers nudibranchs are the exception.

 

Thanks all for the great info. He did materialize again the other day before lights came on, grazing the glass so made it easy to get him.

Shame really to have to remove as it had some lovely colouration for something so simple. Anyway gone now :

 

lol it looks like he was eating your GPS in the first pic