Can you ID this anenome?

[elwaine]

Sorry that the pictures are so poor. The creature (a hitch hiker) is mostly hidden in the branches of a Caulastrea (trumpet coral). It has a foot attached to the coral, and then widens out so that it looks like an upside down bell with large, pink-tipped tentacles growing along it's rim. You can see the mouth as a white, star-shaped area in the center of the tentacles.

(The first picture was taken using a flash.)

Thanks... elwaine

 

[z_rivers]

it looks like it could be a BTA but without a clearer picture its hard to tell.

 

[elwaine]

Hmmm... please forgive my ignorance, but I thought that BTAs like a lot of light, and this little creature has been growing in minimal light (but with decent water flow).

It just "appeared" one day, after the tank was about 2 years old. At first it was so small I could not identify it as an anemone... it was only about the size of a large pin head when I first noticed it, and I thought it might be a small Zoanthid.

Funny how things work out sometimes. I had no intention of having an anemone in my 36 Gal tank. The clowns are very happy without one. But if it is a BTA, it is growing happily and I'll leave it be.

 

[Poorcollegereef]

the purple tips and the lenght of the tenticles kinda looks like a sabae or a maybe an atlantic anem, but Im not sure so dont quote me. BTA dont need as much light as most other anemones

 

[Amphiprion]

Without a better pic, I would say it is a small Condylactis gigantea.

 

[r00onmac]

anyone consider it could be a tulip? they are considered a problem anemone like the aptasia but i have heard of people keeping them without incident because they are so cute. if it isnt bothering the trumpet i see no reason to move it...

 

[818]

What color is the anemone? If its white with pink tips. Condylactis type..

If its green with pink tip it could be a tulip anemone...

Though the tentacles on this anemone have them a bit thicker than a tulips?

GBTA...Wait BTA's in general can survive and thrive in low lighting. So dont be suprised if it turns out to be one.

Good Luck

Sam

 

[Flighty]

I would bet on tulip, but it sure would be cool if it was a baby something

 

[elwaine]

Thank you all. As always, this forum is quite helpful.

The color is green with pink tips - like the Heteractis (BTA), and the tentacles are thicker than those of the Tulip anemone.

Perhaps it is the small size and young age that is confusing me. The larger BTAs that I have seen in pictures and at my local dealer appear to have numerous rows of tentacles. This little guy has only a single row along the periphery. If it is a BTA, do they begin life with a single row of tentacles and then grow more as they mature and flatten out?

When this little anemone was even smaller than it is now, it appeared to be a thin walled, hollow tube, with tentacles at the superior margin, but with no "top" enclosure and no defined mouth as it has now. Is that any help in it's ID? I know little about anemones, let alone their morphogenesis as they mature.

 

[Amphiprion]

I am still not entirely sure, but I am still sticking with a very small, shorter-tentacled specimen of C. gigantea. Look at this gigantea that has longer tentacles and see what you think.

 

[SVXH6]

im going to have to agree with Amphiprion on this one.. and the BTA is a Entacmaea Quadricolor and is not apart if the Heteractis species..keep an eye on it and make sure it doesnt start stinging things or multiplying..

 

[elwaine]

Amphiprion,

Thanks for that picture. The one in my tank is similar in color - perhaps a bit more greenish - but does not have tentacles growing in a "patch of grass" manner, as in your picture. Rather, the creature in my tank has tentacles arising only along the outside-top edge of the foot, and are arranged in a distinct single, circular row.

SVXH6,

Entacmeae quadricolor, also known as a BTA, often has a short "tip" of terminal tentacle above the bubble. This creature does not. Heteractis magnifica, according to Julian Sprung, is also known by the common name of Bulb-tipped Anemone and the two (Entacmeae and Heteractis) appear similar and can be confused with one another. I am certainly confused

Whatever it is, I am beginning to think that I should get rid of it. Even if my Clowns adapt to it, I have two other fish that would make a good meal for a larger anemone, and I'd rather keep the fish.

Cheerrs... elwaine

 

[z_rivers]

dont get rid of it. with its size being so small it wont pose a threat to anything for a while. let it grow and see what it turns out to become.

 

[elwaine]

z_rivers

Good thought. There is no rush to remove it now. I'll let it grow some more and then I'll re-post (hopefully better) pictures.

If this is a Condylactis sp, it had to get into the tank as a contaminant from my dealer. My live rocks came from the Indo-pacific - over 2 years ago - I have not added anything from the Atlantic.

Here is a totally different thought entirely: One of my friends (published... and with decades of experience) thought it could even be a juvenile anthocaulus and asked me to check the base to see if it had a solid skeleton at the base. I can't do that at this point in time - but it is just another reason to keep it growing and report back here.

elwaine

 

[skinpuppi]

I would be careful of it stinging the candycane you have there. It looks pretty close in that pic.

 

[Amphiprion]

Hmm, no Atlantic stuff, eh? That makes it a bit more difficult. It may be a very odd morph of Anemonia cf. majano or maybe one of the indo-pacific condies. Or like you said, it may have come in on something you got from the lfs. I second growing it out to see what happens.

 

[r00onmac]

im sticking to the tulip idea... let it be shown that i called it first j/k

 

[elwaine]

You folks are great! Thanks again. I've looked at dozens of pictures of Tulip Anemones (on the RC web site) and find no identical animal to my creature.

I tried to move the Candy Cane coral in order to get a better look at the anemone, but found that the critter is attached to the base of the coral... so I took 2 additional photos - although I'm not sure they add much.

In both photos, the tentacles are bent nearly at right angles to the foot/body and they (tentacles) are pointing toward the camera. The foot/body is viewed from the side along it's long axis. (Please note that the appearance of erosion of the hard coral is spurious and does not look that way in real life... it is not erosion due to the anemone.)

In this "artistic rendition," I have sketched what the anemone looks like when viewed from the side, with most of the tentacles out straight - and only a few at right angles to the camera.

 

[elwaine]

Compare the above with this picture of a Tulip Anemone

 

[Flighty]

Could it be something like a torch coral?