black tube anemone?

[sneeyatch]

i saw this the other day at a lfs. it looks like a tube anemone but has really thick, black leather looking tentacles. almost octopus-like. you can see the "tube" to the upper left side...

sorry the pic sucks - camera phone.

 

[Javeo]

looks more like a crinoid or feather star

 

[LeslieH]

Can you borrow another camera? The picture is just not good enough.

Javeo - a crinoid or feather star would have feathery looking arms, with a central "spine" and secondary spines to either side. Sneeyatch's description of black, leathery, octopus-like tentacles just doesn't fit.

 

[sneeyatch]

i will try, but it may take a few days. hopefully it will still be there.

it's definately not a star. the grey-ish tube is clearly seen to the left of the black mass and is probably about 3" - 4" in diameter. the tentacles look like they were part of a large tree leather - only black and with fewer "polyps".

it actually looks like it might be eating something by the way it's closed up, but i couldn't tell.

 

[sneeyatch]

well, it's still there, and i don't have any better pics of it, but they told me it was a christmas tree leather...

still doesn't really make sense to me. i've never seen a black leather before.