FYI - Dwarf Carpet anemones

[phender]

Just to let you guys know, there is a major Los Angeles wholesaler that got in a huge shipment of Atlantic Carpet Anemones (Stichodactyla helianthus) that they are labeling "Dwarf Carpets Anemones" on their price list.
Most of them are brown, but some had some nice green tones as well.
I just wanted to give some of the less experienced folks out there a "heads up" that this is not a good anemone for your clownfish.

 

[Taipan]

...picked one and labelled properly ("Stichodactyla Helianthus" - Caribbean/Atlantic Sun Anemone) up at a local LFS this past weekend. They are a nice change to some of the mini/maxi carpets currently out on the market. Nice shades of green. Pics are poor (camera phone). Cheers.

 

[bradleym]

Thanks for the heads up phender!

 

[rssjsb]

...picked one and labelled properly ("Stichodactyla Helianthus" - Caribbean/Atlantic Sun Anemone) up at a local LFS this past weekend. They are a nice change to some of the mini/maxi carpets currently out on the market. Nice shades of green. Pics are poor (camera phone). Cheers.

This is not a criticism of your comments, but I think the point of phender's post is not that people should never buy these anemones but that they should do so knowing that they (1) will not host clownfish, (2) may eat your clowns or other fish in your tank, and (3) are not really a "dwarf" species that will stay small like the maxi-minis.

 

[phender]

Yah, I was just kind of throwing it out there. We don't see these much on the West Coast. I didn't people thinking they were getting a cheap gig (tentacles are similar) or a mertens (brown verrucae could be mistaken for the orange ones on a mertens) and then be disappointed when their clowns wouldn't accept it or worst, were eaten.

FWIW: the wholesaler I was referring to does a great job of including scientific names on their invoices, but not always on their price lists. LFSs are not always real good about relaying scientific names to their customers or knowing much if anything about anemones in general. Since most LFSs out here have never seen an Atlantic Carpet, there are going to be some unhappy new anemone owners.

 

[Taipan]

Points by both members understood. Thanks for the "heads up" and info.

 

[D-Nak]

Thanks for the info., Phil. Now I'm just waiting to see this board fill up with "I bought a carpet anemone and it ate my clown" threads.

I completely agree with you about the LFS unknowingly bringing these in and selling them to customers. Some lists I've seen only describe the carpets as Stichodactyla, and 90% of the retailers can't tell the difference between gigantea and haddoni.