Lettuce sea slug - breeding success

May 31, 2003
From: Rick Hahn

Note added 30 May 2006: This is most probably Elysia clarki, a new species which was previously considered a colour form of E. crispata

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. I've been running reef tanks for about 4 years and recently set up a 75 gal. with VHO lighting and added two of these critters ][Elysia crispata]. One disappeared after about a month which was disappointing, but the other seemed to thrive on the various algae bloom cycles that the tank went through. I have had to move my tank to another house last week and as I was checking the tank today to check on any stressed animals or corals I noticed a baby lettuce slug on the front glass seemingly at rest, spread into a dot on the glass. At the back and sides of the tank I discovered several more, which all appeared to be feeding on the algae bloom that appears on the glass. The only activity with the adult that seemed different lately was that it spent a lot of time in the Caulerpa (I have two types mixed in the tank) and two days ago I had a large Caulerpa die off. Today there are babies everywhere, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch long depending on activity level. The adult also spends a lot of time trying to get at the brown algae in my overflow and managed to get into it for about three days before I discovered it whereabouts and put it back into the tank. I have noticed that even in the same tank and eating the same (supposedly) food there are still color variations in the baby slugs (light green, med-dark green, blue-green, and green with bluish fringe). They are great for algae control and the snails, hermits, emeraldcrab, and peppermint shrimp I have ignore them. I had heard that they are hard to keep and that water salinity and quality are important to them, but the adult I have went through some major changes last week and seems to be thriving. I do recommend VHO or metal halide lighting for anyone trying to keep them as the info here tells me they use photosynthesis also. Lighting is a huge factor in keeping many saltwater creatures alive and healthy, and if you want to raise them.

The local saltwater/reef aquarium shops will usually buy or give store credit for tank raised critters since they are usually more adaptable than wild caught and more reef tank owners prefer tank raised for environmental reasons. Hope I had some useful info for those who want to try to raise them and have not been in the hobby before.
Rick Hahn

Rick_Hahn@Hotmail .com

Hahn, R., 2003 (May 31) Lettuce sea slug - breeding success. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10114

Thanks Rick,
It's great to hear success stories about tank bred animals.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Factsheet

Elysia clarki

Related messages

  1. Relationship of Elysia diomedea and E. crispata
    From: Patrick Krug, October 6, 2008
  2. Elysia clarki feeding practices
    From: Adam D'Agosto, December 6, 2007
  3. Elysia clarki and E. crispata in Florida
    From: Skip Pierce, October 10, 2007
  4. Re: Elysia crispata in Cozumel, Mexico
    From: Skip Pierce, February 2, 2007
  5. Re: Elysia crispata in Cozumel, Mexico
    From: Jim Lyle, February 2, 2007
  6. Re: Elysia crispata in Cozumel, Mexico
    From: Sean Kearney, February 2, 2007
  7. Re: Elysia crispata in Cozumel, Mexico
    From: Skip Pierce, February 1, 2007
  8. Elysia crispata in Cozumel, Mexico
    From: Sean Kearney, January 29, 2007
  9. Elysia clarki feeding references
    From: Nicholas Curtis, January 29, 2007
  10. Re: What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Colin Redfern, September 9, 2006
  11. Re: What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Colin Redfern, September 9, 2006
  12. Re: What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Skip Pierce, September 8, 2006
  13. Re: What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Angel Valdes, September 7, 2006
  14. Re: What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Skip Pierce, September 1, 2006
  15. Re: Damaged Elysia crispata
    From: Nick Curtis, August 31, 2006
  16. What's wrong with Elysia clarki?
    From: Bill Rudman, August 30, 2006
  17. Elysia diomedea & E. clarki in home aquarium?
    From: Matt Pedersen, May 30, 2006
  18. Elysia clarki breeding in the home aquarium
    From: Matt Pedersen, May 30, 2006
  19. Elysia clarki, E. diomedea and E. crispata
    From: Bill Rudman, May 30, 2006
  20. A new Elysia from Florida
    From: Bill Rudman, May 30, 2006
  21. Lettuce Sea Slug behavior and feeding
    From: Patrick Glenn, April 13, 2006
  22. What to feed Elysia crispata?
    From: Alexandra Ahnide, April 11, 2006
  23. Elysia crispata feeding and babies
    From: Willem Bermel, January 31, 2006
  24. Re: Colour in Elysia (again)
    From: Anne DuPont, November 7, 2005
  25. Re: Lettuce sea slug - breeding success
    From: Vincent, June 27, 2003
  26. Re: Gene transfer - Elysia crispata
    From: Skip Pierce, May 5, 2003
  27. Re: Algal genes in Elysia crispata
    From: Philip Cromwell, May 3, 2003
  28. Re: Elysia crispata and algal genes
    From: Skip Pierce, May 3, 2003
  29. Algal genes in Elysia crispata
    From: Skip Pierce, May 2, 2003
  30. Elysia crispata babies
    From: Joe Bongiorno, December 30, 2002
  31. Re: Baby slugs!
    From: Joe Bongiorno, December 18, 2002
  32. Re: Baby slugs!
    From: Joe Bongiorno, December 10, 2002
  33. Bifid rhinophores in Elysia crispata
    From: Anna L. Bass, September 12, 2002
  34. Elysia crispata? in aquaria
    From: Ash, April 1, 2002
  35. Re: Baby slugs! - Elysia crispata
    From: Jeff Zimmerman, June 4, 2001
  36. Re: Baby slugs! - Elysia crispata
    From: Jeff Zimmerman, March 22, 2001
  37. Baby slugs!
    From: Jeff Zimmerman, March 17, 2001

Show factsheet and all related messages