Elysia bennettae? on 'live rock'

January 1, 2003
From: Timothy D. Loyd


Dear Dr. Rudman,
I have another identification question. I am pretty sure this Nudibranch is an Elysia bennettae, but I wanted to confirm it. It popped up in a refugium that I had some Maidens Hair (Chlorodesmis fastigiata). I presume it was on the rock when it was removed from the ocean and only recently grew to a noticable size. Also it deposited several spirals of yellow eggs. I am guessing that these would not be fertile, but I know very little about the reproductive aspects of nudibranchs.

I am in Knoxville, TN at the Aquarium. The Maidens hair came from Fiji, so this is likely where the Elysia came from as well. Just to mention, I would never intentionally remove a nudibranch from the wild. However, I do see probably a hundred or so a year that end up in our systems. A lot of them are maybe a centimeter long at the most, but occaisionally I see some larger ones. I only bother you with the more interesting specimens. Occasionally they
reproduce in our tanks as well.

P.S. That solid black limpet I contacted you about a couple of years ago has populated all of our tanks with offspring.

Thanks for the info,
Timothy Loyd

tim@aquariumconnection.com

Loyd, T., 2003 (Jan 1) Elysia bennettae? on 'live rock'. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8709

Dear Timothy,
It certainly looks like E. bennettae. It is quite interesting how many of these 'delicate' animals survive quite rough treatment. Although not a slug, I am interested in hearing about your unplanned Scutus breeding experiment. We know so little about reproductive behaviour in marine molluscs that any little bit of information is valuable.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Jan 1). Comment on Elysia bennettae? on 'live rock' by Timothy D. Loyd. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8709

Factsheet

Elysia bennettae

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