White nudibranch from Dendronephthya

September 26, 2001
From: Wyatt Patry

I've found a completely white nudibranch in my 10 gallon reef tank in my dorm room. Believe this or not, Im amazed myself. It was crawling on a small sprout of Dendronephthya sp. I can't tell yet if it ate the polyps or not, or damaged it at all. I read the previous message and article on the two species that feed on the Dendro. but this is not either of them. This white one has frills around its "mantle" "epipodium", (I dont know the nudibranch anatomy well enough) the frills LOOK like the polyps of the Denro. so I was wondering if this might be a commensal species? These frills are all around the nudibranch. Oh and it is appearing at night, no lighting. This species seems to be from the genus Dendronotus, are there tropical species from this genus? Looks almost exactly like D. cf. dalli, but that's a colder water species. I have taken pictures with a disposable camera (prob wont turn out good at all), don't have acces to a digital. Sorry, any help in ID'ing this guy would be appreciated. Need to know if it's a threat to my corals, as I have two Dendronephthya sp. corals and Scleronephthya sp. corals, would like to keep them healthy.

Wyatt
UC Santa Cruz, California

wyattp@cats.ucsc.edu

Patry, W., 2001 (Sep 26) White nudibranch from Dendronephthya. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5320

Dear Wyatt,
As a first guess have a look at the page and messages on Tritoniopsis elegans. It seems to be one of the most common 'hitch hikers' turning up in aquaria worldwide. It is white and eats soft corals. Let me know if this solves your problem.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Sep 26). Comment on White nudibranch from Dendronephthya by Wyatt Patry . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5320

Factsheet

Tritoniopsis elegans

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