Nudibranchs    2/12/07
Dear Sir
<Just Bob, please>
First at all, I apologize for bothering you.
My name is Marta Pola. I am a postdoctoral student at the California Academy of sciences, in San Francisco.
<Ahh! Pleased to meet you Marta>
I was looking at the seaslug forum and I found a messages from you about Bornella calcarata from Bahamas. I know that it was from some years ago but I was wondering if you are still diving and still interested in nudibranchs. I am starting to work in a worldwide revision of the genera Bornella, Janolus and Armina. So, I was wondering if you could help me collecting some specimens for me, could you?
<Mmm, if I were there more frequently, I'd be happy to assist you... Am in San Diego half the year, off traveling, though not that often to the TWA, the rest of the time>
Please, let me know if there is any change of it.
Thank you very much in advance and again apologize for bothering you.
Looking for hearing you,
Best regards
Marta Pola Pérez
California Academy of Sciences
<Do ask David Behrens there (and say hello for me) how you might proceed... there are some other agencies, individuals who may be able to assist you here. Bob Fenner>

Weird White Round Thing and Scary Worm, Nudi eggs and Bristleworm
Ok wet web crew, maybe you can help. I have just introduced a lettuce nudibranch into my reef tank when I put it in after quarantine (3 weeks) it sunk to a certain spot and stayed in that spot for a whole day, it didn't scoot around as it had in quarantine. This morning it was happily munching on some algae on the other side of the tank, that was a relief, but where it was there is a perfectly round white slimy raised 2" across patch that looks like rings with a hole in the middle on some live rock in the exact spot he sat for the whole day. 
Unfortunately my attempts to photograph were in vain, 80lbs live rock doesn't leave much room to get a pic. Now I was wondering if it was just some kind of reactionary mucus rings left by the nudibranch, or some kind of fluke or roundworm or parasite that the slug just happened to land on and got trapped stuck whatever.
<Mmm, likely a reproductive event... eggs>
I know that sounds unlikely but the more I learn about marine life I don't rule out much these days. 
And totally unrelated this morning I pulled a 4" worm that was covered in what resembled plated spikes, it was a dark brown green, I saw it and yanked out the dead plate I have for decoration he was crawling on. Then I dropped it into hot fresh water, I know its not good to kill stuff if you can't identify but I didn't want to take a chance it was predatory to fish or inverts, so I caught him while I could. Thanks again for your vast wealth of wisdom you share with us all
Mike Yates
<This last is very likely a species of errantiate polychaete... Bob Fenner> 

Phyllodesmium ate xenia
Hello. I tried to send an e-mail yesterday by going to your website, but perhaps it did not make it through. I have a Pom Pom xenia, which was really a beautiful creature when purchased a week ago. Three days ago I noticed it "shriveling up". I inspected it during the night and found what appeared to be part of the colony moving down the rock away from the rest! It turned out to be a Phyllodesmium that had been eating the xenia. 
<Collected and shipped with it>
I removed the Phyllo., which secreted a gluey, clear coating as I removed it from its hiding place. Inspecting the xenia afterwards, I could see that the damaged areas were whiter than the rest. I trimmed what I could of the damage away from the rest of the colony. Is there anything else I can do to help save this beautiful creature?
<Mmm, not much that I know... perhaps a full-dose of iodine/ide will help. Will ask Anthony Calfo, an old culturist of Xeniids, for his input here>
The remaining colonies are still pulsing but are also shriveled, although not discolored. Tank details follow: 30 gallon with 10 gallon sump, Excalibur protein skimmer, Coralife 192 watt power compact lights (half 10K daylight, half actinic), ammonia/nitrite=0, nitrate<10, dKH about 12-13, ph 8.0, salinity 1.024. The tank has been running about 2 months. I am slowly raising the ph using SeaChem's marine buffer 8.3 (supposedly reaches 8.3 and holds there). I am adding, daily, about 1/3 the amount of the buffer that the bottle recommends (just trying to be cautious). 
Tank inhabitants are: 2 cleaner shrimps, toadstool leather, green button polyp colony, 1 Ricordea mushroom polyp, 30 lbs Tonga live rock. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Lan
<Keep your eyes open for other Nudibranch predators... Bob Fenner>

Chromodoris magnifica feeding
Hi,
<Hello> 
I've been wondering if I could possibly do a Chromodoris magnifica nudibranch in my nano reef tank. I've already read on the seaslugforum.com website about their unique sponge eating diet, and after looking at some pics of the sponges that they feed on, I realized that the sponges in the pics closely resembled some of the sponges that came with my Fiji live rock (almost positive) . I know that the sponges on my rock are alive because they're growing. Do you think I could possibly try one of these nudibranchs? Also, I read on the seaslugforum.com of one person being successful with these nudi.s because he got them to feed on the sponges that came with his live rock. Any help would be appreciated. 
<What will you do when the sponge is gone? Most nudes are difficult to keep for any length of time because of their diet. I would rather see the sponge in my tank. James (Salty Dog)> 

New Nudi
hi
<Hello there>
I recently made a nudibranch the latest addition to my tank..... the guy at  
my LFS said it was very sturdy and that it ate algae
<Uh, no>
...well... by checking
your  website I fear that its a H. bullocki or some thing very similar...I don't
have  pics but ill describe the best I can....its a deep purple...a white band
going  around it (more solid than in most pics of bullockis I've seen) orange
"feelers"  and orange "gills " surrounding the anal gland.....ok...my
problem...obviously  not knowing what type the little guy is I don't know how to care for
it...I've had  it for 24 hrs and now it wont stick to anything...its secreting
from its anal  gland but if it is touched then it retracts all that is
orange....so I have some  faith that it is alive .....I just don't know how to keep
it alive...and now I'm  afraid of  the secretions being toxic.....what should I
do?
<Take it back>
thanks
Danielle
<Please, DON'T buy livestock w/o knowing what it is, its care requirements. Bob Fenner>

Predatory nudibranch...lack of QT 2/11/04
I noticed this creature in my nano tank about a month or so ago. It's white with pinkish highlights, and moves really slow. Is it some kind of worm, nudibranch, or maybe a sea slug. I wasn't sure if it was a coral or not. 
<it is a predatory nudibranch... often cited as Tritoniopsis or Tritonia. They commonly come in with leather corals which is their prey. And they can reproduce in aquaria. A lack of quarantine use and letting this slug in can really make you pay/suffer. Sorry to see it my friend. You may have a hard lesson in front of you. These are coral eaters>
I noticed that it moves around on one rock that has a soft finger type leather coral on it. Will it eat my soft coral? 
<does a bear bring a Reader's Digest into the woods? Er... I mean. Yes, they ONLY eat coral>
It never leaves the rock.
<please do learn and apply proper quarantine habits for all new livestock (corals, fishes, rock, algae, snails... everything wet) to prevent such pests and predators from entering your tank and causing trouble. Anthony>

Flatworm- eating nudibranch
Hi everyone.
< Hi there. >
I noticed my supplier currently has C. varians in stock and thought it would be striking addition to my reef. However, in trying to get some information on them before buying - which there isn't much of - I noticed that this species is widely sought after because of they're flatworm eating abilities. Fortunately, I don't have a flatworm issue - knock wood - and am curious if you know anything about the eating habits of this nudibranch. < My understanding is that it is an obligate flatworm eater. In other words it will starve without them. > I'm beginning to suspect that flatworms are all they eat, and I have no intention of adding anything to my tank that could potentially starve. Can you shed any light on their eating habits? < I would probably not chance it. Even if it does eat something else, it may still slowly starve. I think nudibranchs in general should be avoided, and kept for very experienced reefers with mature tanks. >
Thanks, Neil
< Blundell > 

HOORAY FOR (flatworm eating) BLACK VELVET NUDIBRANCHS!!!!
Hi Gang:
<Chuck>
I took possession this afternoon of a pair of black velvet nudibranchs. . .
and watched with rapt fascination as they began devouring the rust red
planarians which have plagued my low-flow refugium for the past year. My
question is, are these nudibranchs differentiated sexually. . . how do they
reproduce. . . and what are the chances of a randomly selected pair
reproducing successfully in a well-stocked (with Chaetomorpha) mature
refugium?
Chuck
<They're monoecious, cross-fertilizers... not sexually differentiated... might reproduce... Bob Fenner>