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Cant I.D. Slug-like Animal

25 9:44:16

Question
Jennifer,
Can you tell me what a cream colored slug like animal is that has invested my saltwater tank?  They are just a 'bugary' blob with attentae in varying sizes.  The smallest are barely visible, and the largest are about the size of a jelly bean and start showing black markings on their back.  They hide in the sand when the lights are on and only come out while dark.  If you can identify them, my next question is how do I get rid of them?

Answer
Hi Audra. You may be seeing just that a sea slug that has hitchhiked on your live rock into your aquarium. Most species are very fragile however and will not reproduce in an aquarium. There are so many different things this could be that it would be very hard to identify without a picture. Most seaslugs do not crawl into the gravel and are out during the day light hours not only at night. That is the behavior of a worm or snail. If you can get a picture of these creatures you can e-mail it to me at tankgirl527@hotmail.com and I can better assist you with this identification. If you can't get a picture to me try to get back to me with as much of a description as possible like where are the tentacles located? All over or on the sides or in the front...? Body shape? Round, long and slender Flattened? Visible mouth parts? Can you tell head from back end? and so on... Identifying creatures is sort of like detective work and I need all the clues to come together in order to make a positive I.D. on a suspect:)!