Lettuce sea slug
Elysia crispata
Also known as Lettuce Nudibranch, Lettuce Slug, Ruffled Sea Slug, Solar Powered Sea Slug
SaltwaterInvertebrate
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–81°F
- 24–27°C
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- Adult size
- 2 in
- 5 cm
- Minimum tank
- 11 gal
- 40 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Hard
- Rarity
- Common
- Reef safe
- Reef safe
- Family
- Plakobranchidae
- Origin
- Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, on shallow algae-covered reef flats.
Overview
The lettuce sea slug is a peaceful algae grazer for a mature reef tank. It is a step up from the easiest reef animals.
Did you know
The lettuce sea slug steals chloroplasts from the algae it eats and keeps them working in its own tissue. That makes it partly solar powered, able to make food from light like a plant for weeks.
Caring for the lettuce sea slug
Give a lettuce sea slug a mature tank of at least 11 gal (40 L), with good light and plenty of live rock. Keep it away from pump intakes. It is a slow, harmless grazer that crawls over rock and glass.
Hold the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. It is sensitive to poor water quality.
It needs a steady growth of hair and film algae to graze. It sucks the contents out of the algae cells, and it can slowly starve in a very clean tank.
It is completely reef safe and will not bother corals. Breeding it in a tank is hard.
Good to know
Elysia crispata is a sacoglossan in the family Plakobranchidae, not a true nudibranch. Its habit of keeping stolen chloroplasts is called kleptoplasty. Its ruffled frills really do look like leaf lettuce, and they come in green, blue or cream. The frills spread the animal out to catch light.
In the wild
The lettuce sea slug lives in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is found on shallow reef flats covered in algae.
Common questions
What size tank does a lettuce sea slug need?
A lettuce sea slug needs at least 11 gal (40 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.
What temperature and pH does a lettuce sea slug need?
A lettuce sea slug is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.
What does a lettuce sea slug eat?
A lettuce sea slug grazes hair and film algae, sucking the contents out of the algae cells. Without a steady growth of algae, it can slowly starve in a very clean tank.
How big does a lettuce sea slug get?
An adult lettuce sea slug reaches about 2 in (5 cm).
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