Gig or Haddoni?

[xtlosx]

Hey Guys, I'm setting up a 150 and I really going to be centering it around a Gig..... Have never seen one locally, but have seen plenty of Haddonis so when I went to Petco to buy a 10G tank for my ATO I stumbled upon this guy.... He was labeled as a Gigantea, folded up, and had some clarkiis playing around in him. I ended up getting the nem for basically next to nothing after observing the tight mouth the entire time, so I took a gamble... I figured, hey he can spend the next 2-3 weeks in my 60 cube, and when the 150 is ready we'll move....

So here's the big question. Did I just pick up a Haddoni or a Gig? I have been doing a lot of research regarding the veracue and the difference I saw between the two is that on the Haddoni, the "dots" or whatever they are basically are not visible except for just right up top by the tentacles.

On the other hand, with a gig, the dots run half way down to about the foot... When this nem was acclimating, I observed plenty of times as it folded that those dots ran basically half way down to the foot.... So I'm thinking it's a Gigantea??? Am I really that lucky?? The diameter is probably... 3-5", so certainly not big...

Here is a picture just after getting into the tank.. I dug out a little hole under the rock down to the glass, and allowed him to dig himself in.... Other observations... VERY sticky, I mean when I picked him up from the bag by the bottom, he was basically completely attached to my fingers. I had to wobble around gently enough and he let go.......

Anyways, here's some pictures from the first 15 minutes in the tank... I can see a tint of lime green in there, and at Petco he was just blah brown... So the LEDs might help a bit

What do you guys think???

 

[nemoboy1]

From what I can tell I could be wrong but it kinda of looks like a Mertens carpet. If its not a Mertens then it's for sure a gig but one that needs some care as the tentacles should be longer. Needs more flow. Good luck

 

[xtlosx]

From what I can tell I could be wrong but it kinda of looks like a Mertens carpet. If its not a Mertens then it's for sure a gig but one that needs some care as the tentacles should be longer. Needs more flow. Good luck

OK, excellent, well yea it sure hasn't had a lot of flow and it's getting a decent flow in my cube (2x MP10s). The new tank will have a couple of MP40s, so the flow will be even more...

One of the reasons I was thinking it was a Gig was those bumps on it's column. They ran pretty much half way down to its foot which is what I saw was the distinguishing factor... It certainly did NOT go all the way down which is what I saw was the factor for Mertens.

I realize this guy needs some TLC, and he will be getting some in the new tank, this is absolutely temporary just to get him out of Petco and into our home

Thank you for your input and opinion. I figure with some good food, and TLC, the tentacles will come back to a nice big shaggy appearance. I picked up some nice atlantic cod filets today.

 

[taylor t]

Looks like a caribean/atlantic carpet to me.

 

[taylor t]

What color are the dots? orange? or purple/blue?

 

[Reef1589]

in that first picture the dots (verracue) underneath look brownish/orangish and do not go all the way down the base of the foot so that crosses off Mert's. and definantly not a Gig

im gonna say
S. Helianthus

 

[xtlosx]

well so here's the thing. I don't think it's a Helianthus simply because they don't play host to any clowns. I stood and watched several Clarkiis romping around in this nem.

Thoughts?

Ironically enough, the Clarkii's natural host is a Gig. What color do those "bumps" on the bottom side of the Gigantea need to be? Do they need to be a certain color? I thought they just needed to go down half way to the foot is all, regardless of color.

 

[Ostara]

The verrucae on a gigantea are blue or purple. That is definitely S. helianthus from what I can see. They have brown/orange verrucae.

 

[xtlosx]

The verrucae on a gigantea are blue or purple. That is definitely S. helianthus from what I can see. They have brown/orange verrucae.

hmm, well that's a bummer.. Even with the cozy relationship with all of the clarkii in the tank it was in?! From what I read the Helianthus does NOT host anything.

 

[nemoboy1]

Now looking at it from my pc instead of phone it is a Helianthus. Still a nice carpet... Just something I would not keep.

 

[xtlosx]

alright well then it's going back right now... PetCo is actually a nice bunch around here, so can go return it because, it's not about the $, I just don't need a Helianthus here.. I'm looking for a gig..

 

[phender]

That is definitely a helianthus. Clarki clowns will go into anything. It doesn't matter if they are natural clown hosts or not. There has been a huge number of helianthus flooding the market lately. Buyers beware.

 

[xtlosx]

That is definitely a helianthus. Clarki clowns will go into anything. It doesn't matter if they are natural clown hosts or not. There has been a huge number of helianthus flooding the market lately. Buyers beware.

Thank you everyone. The Helianthus in question is back safe and sound at PetCo. Someone else can choose to buy it or not.

The woman who runs the store was shocked to hear all of the facts I presented. They must not be many buyers who know what is going on.