what is this little guy?

April 2, 1999
From: Ian Kaminski

Dear sirs,

I recently found a nudibranch living in my 55 gallon reeftank he came from some Fiji live rock puchased in a pet store. I cannot find a picture to identify the species.

description:
light brown with small white patchs along top of body. approx. 3/4 of an inch long when not stretched out. no shell. Two antenna on the top front that are 1/16th of an inch.
Smooth body with a few spikes randomly along the body. "Very small" snout about 1/8th of an inch long at head that it is eating rock and coral, and then expells dust from
"eyes"? on left and right side 1/8th of an inch down the body past the base of the snout.

He likes to hide, and has a voracious appetite for the dead coral on the rocks. He is hard to see because he is perfectly color matched to the rock.

I wish i could give you a better description.
please give me an e-mail.

Thank you
Ian Kaminski

ian_kaminski@yahoo.com

Kaminski, I., 1999 (Apr 2) what is this little guy?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/736

Dear Ian,
Your animal is a bit of a mystery and perhaps someone will recognise it from your description. My bet is that is not a Sea Slug at all. My reason for saying that is your description of it eating coral and expelling dust from its 'eyes' just behind the snout. It sounds to me like a small fish which is expelling dust through the gill openings on either side of the head. Some coral-eating fish spit the dust out but others expel stuff through the gill openings. I may be quite wrong but it doesn't sound like the behaviour of any Sea Slug I have encountered.

I guess one way of checking would be to gently poke or prod it and see how it moves. If it swims, wriggles, extends fins etc its a fish.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Apr 2). Comment on what is this little guy? by Ian Kaminski. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/736

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