Yep, the name is a bit of a mouthful, but the “magnifica” part is quite appropriate. This little guy is a sea slug, a member of the nudibranch species, and he joined my fish tank on Friday. This Chromodoris Magnifica is about 2 inches long, with bright vibrant colors, and with bright orange gills and rhinophores. He’s (ok, we don’t know that he’s a he, but “it” seems so impersonal) also surprisingly agile, and can slither around, but also just kind of lets go and allows the current drop him down somewhere else.
I love that sea slug. And I also love that the guy who made CF famous is an aquariast.
Is this also known as a "Sea Cucumber"?
Man gotta share that with my brother. Best he has is a "sucker fish" (who is also cute BTW).
Nope, this is not a Sea Cucumber (although I do have one of those, too).
— Ben
5 years ago I was scuba diving at Angra dos Reis (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and I got an amazing experience, we saw dozens of nudibranchs couples. I always see nudibranchs when diving at Arraial do Cabo (Rio) as well. Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamad_amaral/3250775863/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamad_amaral/3251613290/
Very cool looking. I thought most nudibranchs eat one thing and one things only (species dependent). What does this one eat? Beautiful…good luck with it!!
Do you keep corals as well?
What the heck is that thing???
Where are these sea slugs? Tropical waters? What water depth? Are they exotic or can you find them at any pet store to put in your fish tank? Thanks for posting this…something I’d like to add to my fish tank.
Kevin, they are pretty sensitive, they need a well balanced saltwater tank. They’ll crawl all over the place.
— Ben
Can you explain more or the balance of salt water? This might be more than I expected. Do you have a ratio?
I try to keep my pH level at 8.2, +/- 2 in each direction (it is 8.3 right now). I use a digital controller to monitor pH (and more), it alerts me to changes in real-time.
— Ben