For the S. mertensii lovers out there...

[Reefvette]

Marc fusion to me in btas or mags is still not a sustainable method of reproduction.

 

[ousnakebyte]

The problem is sexing them

Well, that's the beginning. But, if you get enough, the law of averages will be on your side that you will eventually have at least one male and female.

More to the problem is how to induce spawning. I'm thinking that getting them to stress spawn will be your most probable/reliable method. But even that is not 100% reliable.

It's certainly not impossible, but definitely a challenge - but a worthy goal, for sure. I hate having to pull them out of the ocean.

Cheers
Mike

 

[BonsaiNut]

Marc fusion to me in btas or mags is still not a sustainable method of reproduction.

I think you meant fission Fusion is definitely not sustainable

 

[Reefvette]

LOL Thank you bonsai.

Most mags are found in colonys. Collected in Colonies. There has to be a male and female in those colonys. Its just a matter of finding them.

Right now i am working with bubbletips and Malu.

I have a very nice purple malu and green.

I have been under the assumption that anemones are internal brooders, which if is true a male and female pair could become prolific breeders.

I also am going to say inducing egg releasing will have to do with tides and moons.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Go a Google PDF search under "sexual reproduction anemone". There is almost nothing on tropical clown anemones, but there is quite a lot on temperate anemones, and even some on smaller tropical anemones (non-clown). I don't know what is applicable to the species you are working with, but the papers raise a lot of interesting questions.

 

[Reefvette]

thank you

 

[ousnakebyte]

I have been under the assumption that anemones are internal brooders, which if is true a male and female pair could become prolific breeders.

Gonna depend on the species. As Bonsai pointed out, not much is known.

I also am going to say inducing egg releasing will have to do with tides and moons.

Well, yeah, in the wild it likely does. But in captivity these are difficult to replicate/control. I only mentioned "stress spawning" b/c I've seen my haddoni broadcast spawn eggs after moves/major tank renovations, etc. Basically, it thinks the world is ending and spawns....

I've also had other temperate anemones do this after being moved on exhibit from quarantine. And... they were at it again last month, though I can't say what the trigger was this time - it could have been the water change a week earlier though. I've got babies again though!

Gamete production is also *probably* enhanced by proper diet. If you're not already, I would feed your anemones a fair amount - more than I believe the average reefer does.

Anyway, just a few thoughts, as cnidarian sexual reproduction is a fun topic for me... :beer:

Cheers
Mike

 

[BonsaiNut]

Here's a couple of papers that I bumped into recently that are related to both topics:

Genetic research on brooded anemone offspring of A. equina.

Sexual reproduction of N. vectensis including stress-induced spawning.

They raise interesting questions about how related the findings are to clown anemones...

If I were to try stress-inducing, I would start first with a combination of heavy feeding and water changes before I would try more disruptive strategies (heat, desiccation, etc). There is some anecdotal evidence that heavy feeding and water changes triggers asexual reproduction in E. quadricolor...

Don't forget that it is likely they are synchronous spawners - so you want to trigger the MALES and the females will spawn naturally. Therefore you might only need to stress the males - which depending on the strategy used might spare the females from some life-threatening stress.

- Greg

 

[elegance coral]

If I was attempting to breed these animals, I would not encourage stress related spawns. I would want to insure that the parents and their gametes were as healthy as possible. I would simply feed the anemones like crazy, and let mother nature take her course. I believe that if they have the resources to devote to reproduction, they will. I fed my female haddoni every day for about six months before she spawned. There were no signs of stress, or any changes to the system just prior to the spawn. It was an average week day, and when I came home from work, she was spawning.

My crucifer goes off all the time, and I've made no connection to stress, or any other environmental factor. I have no idea why he goes off when he does. My clam also spawns when there's no signs of stress. My trachy went off the other night, but that may have been stress related.:wildone:

 

[BonsaiNut]

EC I would normally agree with you. The only anecdote I can share is the personal experience of Larry Sharron when he was trying to aquaculture S. gigantea on Palau. He had them spawning once per month, and said they were none the worse for wear.

One data point does not a trend make, but it is an interesting question. Once we can trigger them to spawn (naturally or artificially), what frequency makes the most sense?

Also, for the record, just because an anemone species is a synchronous spawner does NOT mean that all anemones WILL spawn. The presence of gametes in the water will trigger spawning in other males as well as females... but that does not guarantee that 100% will spawn, nor that they will eject all their reproductive material. I read one paper where after a mass spawning event they found numerous female anemones with plenty of eggs still present. Food for thought...

 

[ousnakebyte]

If you don't have to stress spawn them and can get them to release naturally - by means of feeding or whatever, then yes, that's the best. Getting them to release is only part of the battle - you actually need to be there to witness it to collect the gametes.

You got lucky enough to see it, but what if it had happened when you weren't there? The sperm is only active for a few hours, and pumps, powerheads, etc. will destroy the eggs within a matter of minutes.

I mention stress spawning b/c for the times I have had my haddoni stressed - twice for a tank move, once after a major renovation, I was there to witness the anemone releasing about 2-3 hours after things had "calmed down."

And by "stressing" I don't mean to imply doing anything that seriously jeopardizes the life of the anemone(s). The last time, I just had the anemone in a bucket for about 14 hours while I rearranged my tank. I put it back in and about 1.5 hours later - well, I needed to do ANOTHER water change.......

But, I also feed my anemones 2-3 times per week with various different foods, so they *probably* have enough energy to make gametes.

And, the same thing has happened with the U. crassicornis anemones I have raised from larvae (moving them from QT to exhibit, tank off all day and presto).

Anyway, good luck with it.

Cheers
Mike

 

[elegance coral]

EC I would normally agree with you.

And I normally agree with you. It's cool if we don't agree on every little thing.:beer: You'll come around at some point.:lolspin:

The only anecdote I can share is the personal experience of Larry Sharron when he was trying to aquaculture S. gigantea on Palau. He had them spawning once per month, and said they were none the worse for wear.

It's really hard for us to judge the health, or stress level, of these animals. We can't check their pulse, take their temp, or analyze their blood pressure. All we can really do is look at them and say, "Well, it looks okay to me", so it's kinda hard to say what impact this was having on the brood stock.

Gigantea and haddoni may have different reproductive strategies. Gigantea may produce fewer eggs, more often than haddoni??????? Maybe monthly spawning is normal for gigantea???? I know with my haddoni, she produces an unimaginable number of eggs. It takes her time to produce such large numbers. Even if I could induce spawning, the number of eggs she could release on a monthly basis would be very low.

One data point does not a trend make, but it is an interesting question. Once we can trigger them to spawn (naturally or artificially), what frequency makes the most sense?

That is a very good question. I think it will take some serious observation, and documentation, to come to a reasonable answer. With my haddoni, I can watch the eggs develop inside her. Right after she spawns, her column is a uniform color. As time progresses, light colored rows of eggs form in her column. Maybe, with more experience, we can reach a point where we can look at the amount of eggs within the anemone, and tell if she's in spawning condition or not.

Also, for the record, just because an anemone species is a synchronous spawner does NOT mean that all anemones WILL spawn. The presence of gametes in the water will trigger spawning in other males as well as females... but that does not guarantee that 100% will spawn, nor that they will eject all their reproductive material. I read one paper where after a mass spawning event they found numerous female anemones with plenty of eggs still present. Food for thought...

This brings up another very good point. Maybe we don't need stress induced spawning. Knowing that these animals often spawn as a result of detecting gametes in the water, maybe we can freeze gametes from one spawn to induce future spawns???????

One of us needs to stop talking about this and simply spend the money to make it happen.:hmm3:

 

[elegance coral]

If you don't have to stress spawn them and can get them to release naturally - by means of feeding or whatever, then yes, that's the best. Getting them to release is only part of the battle - you actually need to be there to witness it to collect the gametes.

You got lucky enough to see it, but what if it had happened when you weren't there? The sperm is only active for a few hours, and pumps, powerheads, etc. will destroy the eggs within a matter of minutes.

If someone was to seriously attempt this, the anemones would need to be kept in a system specifically designed for this purpose. The gametes would need to flow from the anemone tank, to a separate container where the sperm would be filtered out, and the eggs would remain suspended.

 

[Reefvette]

Spawning

Spawning

The one plan i had for spawning was that once i can figure out how often and when, then i would work on collection.

In the case of magnifica i am going to try a raceway with strong flow and a colony of 6 mags. All from same collection site.

 

[anemoneguy]

ReefVette,
I was wondering how you will know if all 6 are from the same collection site.I see where your going with that and it sounds like a good idea but by the time they would get to you it seems like it would be hard to say for sure if they were all from the same site.

 

[Reefvette]

Its not hard you just have to find someone who brings them in.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Don't forget - clones are all the same sex I brought back three H. magnifica from French Polynesia years ago... they were all on the same coral bonny. I assume they were clones (but have no way of knowing). They are easy to collect this way; they tend to be in groupings. But if you are attempting sexual reproduction you might be better off mixing a large number from various sites.

 

[ousnakebyte]

If someone was to seriously attempt this, the anemones would need to be kept in a system specifically designed for this purpose. The gametes would need to flow from the anemone tank, to a separate container where the sperm would be filtered out, and the eggs would remain suspended.

With brooders, you might have a little more wiggle room, as their larvae are settlement competent already. And, honestly, with the corals I have worked with, brooders are INFINITELY easier to deal with. It's the rearing of the larvae that really sucks and takes a toll.

With broadcasters - you really need to be there asap when it happens. Sperm concentration really matters - I've seen it time and again in corals, anemones and clams. If the sperm is filtered out too quickly, you won't get good fertilization rates. The membranes on the eggs also tear very easily. After 24-48 hours, the larvae become a little more hardy. And, they also clump and bind up together very easily as well. If you are gone for more than a few hours - or don't have some system set up to stir your developing larvae - it's very easy to lose a whole batch.

There is a guy here in NOVA who is setting up a plankton system designed for the purposes of trying to breed anemones. I hope he is successful. But, I do think you need a lot of brood stock, b/c as Bonsai mentioned, they might not all release.

In the case of magnifica i am going to try a raceway with strong flow and a colony of 6 mags. All from same collection site.

I would caution againt the same collection site. The same reef that is a few miles long might be fine, but I would try to make sure you don't get them from the same few meters apart. Since H. mag is a cloner.... if you get all clones, self fertilization is often inhibited in many species, and you won't have viable larvae. Or... is H. mag gonochoric? If you get all clones, then you might even have all males/females. Really, I would get them from different locales.

Just a thought.

Cheers
Mike

 

[marc price]

Right now i am working with bubbletips and Malu.

I have a very nice purple malu and green.

...good cause, if interested, i may let you talk me out of my very nice purple malu.

You've probably already read this one but if you haven't - http://www.instantocean.com/Ocean-of-Knowledge/SeaScope/~/media/UPG/Files/Instant%20Ocean/SeaScope/Volume%2006_1989.ashx - scroll down to Volume 7 Spring 1989 page 2.

 

[BonsaiNut]

You've probably already read this one but if you haven't - scroll down to Volume 7 Spring 1989 page 2.

A great read! I had never seen this before - I'm surprised that they didn't publish it. Great to find a "pre-Internet" document like this online. Thank you so much for sharing!