Montipora-eating nudibranch
Phestilla sp.
InvertebratesSaltwaterPest species
- Care level
- Easy
- Maximum size
- 0.6 cm
- Diet
- Carnivore
Care at a glance
This montipora-eating nudibranch isn't a species you buy but a hitchhiker that arrives on almost every new Montipora frag: a small, extremely well-camouflaged slug that's easy to miss among the coral branches by day. At night it emerges to eat away Montipora tissue, laying spiral egg masses that hatch into more of them.
Treat every new Montipora frag as suspect: dip it in a coral dip before adding it, quarantine it separately from your main tank, and check regularly for eaten patches and the tell-tale egg spirals. If an infestation has already taken hold, manual removal by daylight or with a flashlight at night helps, repeated over a few weeks to catch newly hatched ones too.
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Values are mainstream hobbyist guidance, not gospel — always watch what your own animals need.