Can you help Identify this hitchhiker?
January 13, 2006
From: Jimmy Carmichael
This Nudibranch has arrived in my Marine aquarium during the last month, I believe he has stowed away on a piece of liverock I recently purchaced. He seems to be quite active in the evenings sometimes on the glass but recently has taken a liking to a piece of Pussy Coral which I am worried he is eating!
Any information on his diet, species etc would be most appresiated.
Jimmy Carmichael
no1carmichael@icqmail.com
Carmichael, J.J., 2006 (Jan 13) Can you help Identify this hitchhiker?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15541Dear Jimmy,
I have been planning a guide to the 6 most common aquarium hitchhikers and this animal would be near the top of the list. It is Tritoniopsis elegans, a soft-coral feeding nudibranch which is widespread in the tropical Indian and west Pacific Oceans. I am not good on common names so I am not sure what a 'pussy- coral' is, but from your photo it is definitely a soft coral, and from your account is the most probable food of the nudibranch.
I guess you have to make a value judgement on whether you want to keep the beautiful nudibranch, which will mean regularly buying new soft coral, or whether you want to stick with your dull bit of 'pussy-coral'. I guess I am a bit biased.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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