ID please

[Russter]

I am trying very hard to get a picture of this but none of them are turning out as this thing seems to only come out with the lights outs and in on the side of a cave. It's maybe 1/2" across and looks like a translucent polyp of some kind with many tentacles that have a little light colored ball on the tip of each. Possibly some other kind of anenome?

Sorry for bad pic but subject is centered in this photo against the rock.

 

[AJSTITAN14]

Look up Coryactis California or Strawberry Anemone and tell us what you think.

 

[donya]

Pseudocorynactis?

 

[Russter]

I have found a picture of exactly what it looks like.

It seems to be related to the Strawberry Anemone or Club-Foot Anemone, which are cold water species. After some further research I believe it is White Ball Corallimorph (Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum). Appears they can be aggressive and will attempt to eat anything they come into contact with. Next question is...should I attempt to kill it?

Thanks for the point in the right direction AJSTITAN14 and donya.

 

[AJSTITAN14]

My strawberries are smaller than a dime. I was feeding them trying to get a frag going for my LFS but they all died when summer came around and my tank temp went up a bit. They looooove mysis shrimp engulfing them in seconds.

There must still be planulae hibernating or something because I have started to see them again over the winter.

My philosophy is not to kill anything out of ignorance and fear.

 

[Russter]

My philosophy is not to kill anything out of ignorance and fear.

I agree, however just trying to get a consensus if anybody has had any negative issues with having these in their tank. As long as they don't get to pest proportions and are having no impact on the rest of my livestock, I have no problem letting them live in my tank.

 

[Peter T]

I have quite a bit of those in my tanks, I never noticed an issue with them and enjoy them for the biodiversity they add to the tanks.

 

[donya]

Next question is...should I attempt to kill it?

If you have really small fish or inverts they could be a risk, but otherwise they are just fine. Regarding the risk to small animals, I had a very, very large white ball corallimorph take out a 1" Gobiodon okinawae, but that was the only problem I ever had with them. The corallimorph was hidden in a strange place and I think was around 1.5" tip-to-tip, which was exceptionally large for the ones I had. Most never reached more than 0.5" and were therefore no risk to the goby.

I don't know if they are ever a problem for corals, but I never had them reproduce in a way that would suggest they would be an Aiptasia-like issue. To get them to reproduce at a reasonable rate, I had to feed them daily with meaty foods.

 

[Russter]

Thanks everyone. I think I will leave it be as I don't have any really small fish to worry about, but will keep an eye on it.

 

[AJSTITAN14]

Yeah. Around here they are prestty uncommon. Our LFS said that they were interested in them especially since I said they were pretty colorful with a cranberry colored center. like Donya said they need to be fed to really get growing.

 

[Russter]

Since finding the first one, I have noticed three more in other locations in the tank.

 

[gweston]

I have/had a few. They tended to like the darker parts of the tank, but they seem to have disappeared. I didn't spot feed them and trimmed back on feedings to keep nutrients in check. That may have been why. I caught my RBTA stinging one once and it was gone soon after.

 

[mndfreeze]

Ball anemone! I have tons in my caves, they are awesome and eat sneaky food bits that fly into them to dissapear deep into my rockwork and rot. Since they also highly dislike light (mine do at least) they stay in areas away from my corals.