• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Purple NudiBranch

Here's my first picture posted.

I think I have to do a better job cleaning the glass :)
Eric


Purple-Nudi.jpg
 
Looks Great! I was thinking about getting one of these, but they are hard to keep no? I thought they ate sponges?
 

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Very hard to keep. Nobody knows exactly which exact species of sponge they feed on. As beautiful as they are, and as much as I'd love one... *sigh*

I'm hoping Eric has long term success with them though. Then he can teach us so that I can have one!
 
Here is some information. I guess this is not good in a reef tank eh?

There are more than 3,000 known species of nudibranch, and new ones are being identified almost daily. They are found throughout the word's oceans, but are most abundant in shallow, tropical waters. Their scientific name, Nudibranchia, means naked gills, and describes the feathery gills and horns that most wear on their backs.

Generally oblong in shape, nudibranchs can be thick or flattened, long or short, ornately colored or drab to match their surroundings. They can grow as small as 0.25 inch (6 millimeters) or as large as 12 inches (31 centimeters) long.

They are carnivores that slowly ply their range grazing on algae, sponges, anemones, corals, barnacles, and even other nudibranchs. To identify prey, they have two highly sensitive tentacles, called rhinophores, located on top of their heads. Nudibranchs derive their coloring from the food they eat, which helps in camouflage, and some even retain the foul-tasting poisons of their prey and secrete them as a defense against predators.

Nudibranchs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, and can mate with any other mature member of their species. Their lifespan varies widely, with some living less than a month, and others living up to one year.
 
Top