Anemone ID

[Navyblue]

I just got it and it is still adjusting. The tentacles are straight and not round when the light is off. The foot is magenta, the top side is purple, the tip is white with a purple spot in the middle.

Because of the magenta foot I thought it was H. magnifica when I got it. I guess it is S. gigantea, I am worried if it is dyed.

 

[OrionN]

That is a difficult one. I have no idea. Wait a few days and retake picture. As many different angles as you can include tentacles, top of oral disc and side of the column. BTA and Manifica do not hold themselves fold like in your pictures. Carpets, either Haddoni or Gigantea do not have tentacles like those, even when not healthy.
I can tell you that it is not M. doreesis, H. crispa, H. malu but cannot completely rule out H. magnifica, E. quadricolor, S. gigantea or S haddoni. It may be a non clownfish hosting anemone. It may also be dyed like you said. If not it is certainly a very colorful anemone.

 

[Navyblue]

I agree, it's a tough one.

Once I noticed the way it is standing and folding itself, I started to doubt that it is a H. magnifica.

When the light is off, it is quite similar to the link below, which is Stichodactyla gigantea. The tentacle shape with white tip is very similar, and also the solid coloured foot.

http://herramientas.educa.madrid.org/animalandia/conocer/ficha.php?id=1680

When the light is on, it is very similar to Stichodactyla mertensii. Rounded tentacle with white tips. The purple topside has very similar shade with the photo in the link below (the photo I took above is more saturated than in person). Except the foot is solid magenta and not dotted.

http://www.reefland.com/forum/reef-...-anemone-online-sale-www-reefhotspot-com.html

I'll take more pictures if there are any changes.

 

[OrionN]

The link you posted from herramientas.educa show the picture of a BTA, not a S. gigantea.
Solid color column without visible veraccue would eliminate H. Crispa, H. malu, M. doreensis, S. mertenii, S. gigantea.
H. magnifica and E. quadricolor is most likely have solid color column.

For pictures of host anemones in captivity, look at the anemones and clownfish FAQ thread sticky above.

 

[Navyblue]

Photos on the underside and mouth.

 

[Navyblue]

Light off.

 

[OrionN]

That is a H. magnifica 100% sure. Very nice color, and seem stressed but healthy. Good luck with him.

 

[Navyblue]

Thank you.

 

[D-Nak]

+1 magnifica. Looks a lot like the one Divers Den had for sale a few days ago.

 

[OrionN]

You must have LED. Very strange color when the light is on, but color likely very accurate with camera flash.

 

[Navyblue]

It is under 250W 20000K BLV bulb. I suppose iPhone's camera can't handle bluer lighting, it is not that saturated looking in person (kind of a dirty purplish/brownish). The light off picture is shot with an LED torchlight shined on it from top.

I wonder, would it like in the lower half of the tank? Subject to its willingness of course.

 

[Navyblue]

I find the anemone has a rather weak grasp on the rock, I can peel it off the rock very easily. Is this normal with this anemone? My experience with Sebae and BTA, they are all a pain to remove once attached. This is probably why it is avoiding high flow area.

Currently it is mounted vertically on a rather low flow area about 1' from the waterline.

After almost a week it is pretty much in the same state. Shrivelled up during light on and more at ease during light off. Also not accepting food. If this goes on I don't think it would end well. What can I do here?

 

[phender]

Although it is probably a mag. I am not quite ready to rule out a H. crispa or malu with a dyed base.
The verracue look a little too distinct to be a mag. I also have never seen a mag hold itself folded in that manner. Lastly, it looks to have dots (possibly magenta) on the ends of the tentacles. I don't think mags have those.

Is the foot trying to go for a crevice or does the foot want to flatten out on top of the rocks? Mag tend to keep their foot on top, while crispa and malu like to hide their foot a bit.

 

[OrionN]

I never seen Magnifica hold itself folded like that either, but the verracue and the dots on the end of the tentacles is normal for Magnifica in my experience. I have had several with this dot and my current magnifica have dots like this.

Regarding the possible dye, I do not think that there is a dye that only dye the base and not the tentacles. IME, anemone are dyed when I see the color more uniform (or added to their natural color. Typical Sebae anemone dyed would be all yellow column and tentacles with purplish tips.

 

[phender]

I.........
Regarding the possible dye, I do not think that there is a dye that only dye the base and not the tentacles. IME, anemone are dyed when I see the color more uniform (or added to their natural color. Typical Sebae anemone dyed would be all yellow column and tentacles with purplish tips.

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you, but I have seen some really creative anemone dye jobs in the last couple years where the tentacles were dyed a different color than the base. I don't know how they did it, but they were completely different colors, not just different shades of the same color.

Again, I agree that it is most likely a mag, sometimes pictures accentuate things that throw you off, when the ID would be obvious in person.

 

[Navyblue]

Everytime I put it on top of a flat rock, it either floated away or moved down to some kind of crevices. I don't know if it is avoiding the current and light or it prefers to wedge itself. But I am almost sure that it seems to be avoiding current.

 

[Navyblue]

Just now, for the first time, I saw it wrapped itself into a ball the typical magnifica style., albeit it is mounted horizontally while its foot is in a crevice. A hybrid?

 

[Navyblue]

Is it possible that it is some kind of carpet anemone? After 2 weeks, it never once climbed up, but always climbed down. It is now basically on the sand bed. I don;t know if it is happy there, but it can not climb down any further.

 

[OrionN]

IMO, It cannot be anything but a Magnifica.
Post some f/u pictures

 

[Navyblue]

At the spot it seems to prefer, but it could be it is still acclimating to the light.