'blue anemone' and damsels

[larkinvalley]

Here is one of Dahab's featured items, shown to the divers with a special gest of pride:


it really looks blue; what surprised me was a seemingly warm relationship between it and a few damsels around...

what's it called and does it really host damsels? it looked really blue.

 

[Ron Popeil]

looks like Macrodactyla doreensis, or long tentacled anemone. that color is great, i wonder what depth that picture was taken?

and yes, its common for domino damsels to hang in or around anemones for protection as juveniles, less so as they mature.

 

[larkinvalley]

thanks, Ron,

depth was 15 meters, but flash has been used, so colors are accurate; it looked much deeper blue in reality due lack of reds.

I wonder if it is just a mechanical protection or does it really sting but damsels are insensitive, etc?

 

[Ron Popeil]

damsels and clownfish are very closely related. i wouldnt be surprised if they have some of the exact same chemical/physical protections as clownfish, that perhaps they grow out of as they age, or maintain their entire lives just cease to use.

 

[larkinvalley]

well, yes, same family; I wonder how badly this anemone stings... Although as I am saying this, I am not sure how badly sting regular anemones - would i feel it if I try?

 

[Ron Popeil]

oh oh oh right. um...i dont rightly know. ive handled several LTAs and never been stung by one. my heteractis magnificas will leave welts on my upper arms for several days and it definetely feels like a sting. several of them.

 

[larkinvalley]

I see. What's LTA? Also: what we dont feel like a sting is possibly quite a sting for a tiny lonely fish in a big ocean...

 

[Ron Popeil]

LTA - Long Tentacled Anemone (macrodactyla doreensis)

 

[COreefer]

Dahab Egypt correct??? I never noticed a LTA in the redsea...many H. Crispa...I could be wrong. I just have never seen them, especially in the Dahab/Sharm area.

 

[larkinvalley]

Exactly, and what strikes me is that when I google that doreensis thing, it says they dwell in Indo-Pacifica, but not Red Sea...

 

[Ron Popeil]

i could certainly be wrong, it just doesnt look like any of the crispas ive ever seen....

 

[larkinvalley]

what supports Ron's guess, is that corkscrew shape of tentacle tips in my picture; google says LTA is also called corkscrew tipped anemone.

 

[COreefer]

Here's a shot I took while in Dahab..at first I thought it was an LTA, but it is definitely H. Crispa. Could your pic be a LTA?? Possible, but they are not indigenous to the RS...particularly the north RS.

 

[larkinvalley]

is there any trait which helps to tell the two apart?

 

[COreefer]

underneath the oral disc and the foot would tell for sure, but the fact LTA's aren't found in the RS is pretty definitive. LTA's are also sand dwellers and it appears that one is also using rock. Anyone know of any reports of M. Doreensis found in the north Red Sea??

 

[COreefer]

dbl post

 

[Amphiprion]

Based on appearance and locational data, I would have to say H. crispa. COReefer, I agree that is 100% undoubtedly H. crispa--even if you didn't know the location, I would think the sheer tentacle density would give it away.

 

[larkinvalley]

it was not just a rock, it was in the niche on a rocky wall (site caled Bells);

does H. crispa have a very high tent. density compared to LTA?

 

[larkinvalley]

here they say everything about how not to confuse the two species; it also says that association with D. trimac is typical!

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/anemoni/ESAHeteractiscrispaen.htm

 

[COreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9164829#post9164829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by larkinvalley
it was not just a rock, it was in the niche on a rocky wall (site caled Bells);

yeah I know the Bells...Bells to Blue Hole is a great dive!!