I have a theory about guadracolor and magnifica reproduction, and the events you describe in your system, just adds one more tidbit of information leading me to think, I may be right. I could be completely wrong though.:hmm3: :lmao:
I believe both of these species share a very similar reproductive strategy. They both have two different "forms" within the species. The relatively small colonial anemones that reproduce asexually and releases sperm. Like the ones you have. Then there are the larger solitary individuals that are not known to reproduce asexually. At first this just didn't make any sense to me what so ever. How can you have two "forms" of the same species that have different modes of reproduction and live in different environments? That sounds like two different species to me, but they're not. There has to be some logical explanation. After years of contemplating and studying this issue, here's what I believe is taking place. Again, I could be completely wrong. There needs to be much more research on this topic before we have any real answers.
These animals typically live in large groups of genetically identical individuals. If the original anemone was male, every anemone in the colony should be male. For the long term survival, and ability to evolve, sexual reproduction within a species becomes very important. If all the anemones within the same general area are male, sexual reproduction becomes far less likely. I believe these anemones have found an answer to this problem. I believe all the anemones within a colony start out as male. I believe they reproduce by division until the colony reaches a given size or density. We know that anemones release pheromones, allelopathic, and other substances into the water. As the colony grows, the concentration of these substances within, and around, the colony will increase. I believe, at some point, this triggers a change within one or more of the individuals in the colony. The individual begins to grow, change from male to female, and eventually detaches from the substrate and drifts away. I read an article a long time ago about some researchers that were studying a particular area of a reef. They had it roped off, and would go to this area documenting changes as they took place. After more than a year of studying this one small section of reef, they returned to make there usual observations. To their surprise, right in the middle of their research area, was a huge magnifica. This anemone had not been there before, and could not have grown from a larvae in the time of their absence. The only logical explanation was that the anemone was brought there by the current. The researchers concluded that the anemone must have simply detached from its original location to avoid predation or to find a more suitable environment. They may have been 100% correct, but that's not what I believe happened. I believe the anemone was part of a colony. The conditions within the colony triggered this anemone to grow, change sexes, and detach from the substrate. It's very common throughout the animal kingdom for females to grow larger, when large numbers of offspring is the goal. We see this in clown fish, insects, spiders, some cuttle fish........ Eggs are much larger than sperm so if a female is to produce a large number of eggs, it pays to be large. Males can afford to be small, because their gametes don't take up much room. If there is a colony of males, and they all spawn at the same time, like is common and you have witnessed, they can flood the water with their gametes. If there are large solitary females in the area, there's a high likelihood of fertilization. With the female leaving the colony, she becomes much more likely to obtain sperm from an unrelated donor.
IMHO, if you ever decide to attempt a real sexual reproduction, your best bet would be to locate one of the large BTA's that hobbyists complain about never splitting for them. Then keeping it in a system of its own until your males spawn again. I'd be willing to bet that if you transferred sperm laden water into the system with the larger anemone, some time later, it would release larvae that settle quickly and begin to grow into new little BTA's. Of course, I could be completely wrong though. LOL.
All of this is based on anecdotal and circumstantial evidence, but it's the only explanation I have been able to come up with that explains the odd lifestyle of these animals.
