Lettuce Sea Slug

Care at a glance

Overview

It suits a mature tank of 40 litres or more at 24 to 27 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4 with good light and steady growth of hair and film algae to graze. It is completely reef safe and will not bother corals, but it is sensitive to poor water quality and can slowly starve in a very clean tank. Keep it away from pump intakes and provide plenty of live rock.

In the wild

The lettuce sea slug is covered in ruffled frills that really do look like leaf lettuce. The frills come in green, blue, or cream and spread the animal out to catch light. It is a slow, harmless grazer that crawls over rock and glass.

Good to know

Elysia crispata is a sacoglossan, not a true nudibranch, and it practices kleptoplasty. It sucks the contents out of algae cells and keeps the working chloroplasts alive in its own tissue, so it can make food from light like a plant for weeks.

Did you know

By stealing chloroplasts from the algae it eats, it becomes partly solar powered and can photosynthesize inside its own body.

Related species

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