Euselenops luniceps sighting...

[Joey French]

About two weeks I had a power outage which lasted a few hours. During this time I worked to get a generator running but the time period the tank was not lighted and little circulation was about 7-8 hours, intermittently. When I turned the lighting and circulation back on, I almost immediately saw what I believe to be this creature on top of the sandbed. After trying to find a positive ID for it, I have found spotty info on it's feeding habits, but it does burrow, and might feed on small crustaceans. Since I haven't seen it before or since, I suspect that since I haven't added any rock in some time, it has been there for quite a while. Now, my question is, does anyone have any other info for me as to their own experiences, if any, or any advice as to whether this animal is in fact setrimental to the sandbed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hope this guy is harmless, and it would be nice to see him again someday!
Joey[/img]

 

[Joey French]

anyone?

 

[jamesw]

Wow! Why don't you post this question in the Invertebrate forum for Advanced Aquarist - maybe Rob Toonen or Julian Sprung can help out.

Cheers
James

 

[Anonymous]

Well, You probably already did the same google search I did, so I don't think I can offer anything knew, but here is one quote I found on a diving site that leads me to believe they may not be a good idea in a reef tank.

Even without a shell, E. luniceps has no problem defending itself. It has the nasty habit of secreting sulfuric acid when it senses danger—an effective deterrent against most predators. On the other hand, it is itself a formidable hunter.

http://www.skin-diver.com/departments/E ... theID=1390

I bet having sulfuric acid secreted into your tank would not do good things.

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
I have something similar and I had it for about 3 years. It is not as brightly colored, but more brownish.

Yes, inorganic acid is bad in general, but I am sure some bacteria can convert that to something harmless. Keep in mind that HCl does not harm much in saltwater in low quantity (to make an understatement, Cl- is very common in seawater). Same for SO2--. Sulf* is a common ion in seawater.

 

[coralite1]

That's a pretty sweet slug, how long was he out for?

 

[Joey French]

Man, as soon as the lights came back on, he was out! I mean, I knew he had to be a nudibranch of some sort, because of the mechanics of his movements, ruffled sides and all that. Rather small, about 2" across, but moved faster than any nudibranch that I have seen. Keep in mind, this is a 20 H, not a big tank, so if he is a troublemaker, then I wish I knew now, even though I really wouldn't be able to do anything about it, really... except dig him up, which I'm sure my PITA maroon has already tried. Thanks for the info so far, did someone say they had one for a couple of years, with no trouble? Also, I would like to comment that this animal has definitely been able to survive in my small tank for some time, as I haven't put anything except very small pieces of rubble and frags for months! So, whatever it's eating, it's definitely sandbed inhabitants (or maybe stray food particles, anemone poop)...Hence my concern...
Thanks, Joey

 

[Joey French]

Hey, Jake, didn't even know it was you I was responding to!
Joey