Minh's attemps at H. malu sexual reproduction

OrionN · May 24, 2016

Of the clownfish hosting anemones, there are three species that we possibly able to get to reproduce sexually in aquarium. Waikiki aquariums got BTA to sexually reproduced. This was well documented.
My research indicated that the females of two other host anemone species, S. gigantean and H. malu, internalized sperms to fertilize the eggs internally. The eggs developed inside the mother and were released as small anemones complete with zooxanthellae. Because of this reason, it is possible that we have a chance at trying to sexually reproduce these anemones in our aquariums.
I have attempted to sexually reproduce H. malu about 10 years ago. I was able to get my H. malu to spawn and able to have the female Malu full of fertilized eggs. Just right after this, my tank cracked, leaked and I lost the female Malu anemone. Because of this reason, I was not able to continue this endeavor for a long time. Recently, I was able to set up tanks and able to reacquired a few Malu to try to continue with this experiment.
Right now I have four H. malu anemone in a tank that I can isolate if I can get them to spawn. Once this happen, I will isolate the tank and use air pump as circulation to see if I can recover some larval and get them to settle.
I also have multiple specimens of S. gigantea in my system. I am feeding them in hope of getting them to spawn also. Once I know which anemones are males and which are females, I can think about it and see if I can do similar attempt to see if I can also reproduce gigantea.
Below are some pictures of my previous try. I will continue to update this thread, success or failure. I will try to answer any questions to the best of my ability. If anybody have any suggestion or constructive criticism please feel free to chime in.

Picture of my H. malu pair. Green male and Purple female

Mature pair

Spawn

Female full of fertilized eggs

My lonely male Years after the failed spawn:

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OrionN · May 24, 2016

I will attempt to take better picture of the four small Malu I have right now. I will keep this thread update as things develop, if any.

j_mazzy · May 24, 2016

Very nice project

sam.basye · May 24, 2016

So, is it your assumption that the eggs are fertilized if they end up in the tentacles then released slowly as opposed to releasing them all at once?

How did you come to that conclusion?

OrionN · May 24, 2016

I read that in BTA they bud off at the end of the tentacle. In Gigantea and Malu they egress though the mouth
My previous experience the Malu fertilized eggs disappeared from the mother 48-60 hrs after the spawn event. The tank they were in was at my office so I was not able to observed any of this. They just disappeared overnight. I assumed that they were released and got chewed up by the filter

ulli · May 25, 2016

Are rock anemones also known to reproduce sexually in aquariums?
I am pretty sure there was a lfs here that had them multiplying.

OrionN · May 25, 2016

ulli said:
Are rock anemones also known to reproduce sexually in aquariums?
I am pretty sure there was a lfs here that had them multiplying.

Yes, but they are not clownfish hosting anemones

swimmer4uus · May 25, 2016

What do you think triggers the spawning events in internally fertilized anemones?

OrionN · May 25, 2016

I don't know. I remembered they spawned in the fall. I was feeding them to try to induce spawn. The tank was right next to a picture window so they have moonlight exposure also.
Possible just condition up just right or moonlight plus condition. Possibly temperature decrease may have something to do with it. Who know. I just hope to be able to consistently cause them to spawn. Once I can do this I can test and see what trigger it.

kalosbios · May 30, 2016

Hi Minh--could length of day have anything to do with it? Just thinking about the picture window as a factor. I know it's a tropical creature, but...?

I know moonlight has a powerful effect on spawning, but curious about the marine environment and the effect of daylight as well. Any thoughts on this?

Sounds like a really cool project--I wish you all the best!

Gordon

JonezNReef · Jun 1, 2016

I was wondering if you could get them to reproduce in the aquarium. Now that you have helped me identify that I have a H. Malu I might get a second one and see if I cant get them to do this as well. I was wondering how you are able to identify what sex the anemone is? If I have 2 that are the same sex will one change so that they are not the same sex like some fish do?
I eagerly await updates because my nem is my favorite pet out of all my saltwater creatures and this would be a good excuse to get another!!

OrionN · Jun 1, 2016

As far as I know, they don't change sex. The more Malu you have the higher the percentage of having at least a male and a female

AD87 · Jun 2, 2016

Minh,

How is the anemone I sent you? Did it show any signs of what species it is?

m0nkie · Jun 2, 2016

very interesting! subscribing. I've seen my green Haddoni spawn 2 times this year. My red and blue never did. I guess my green is a male.

ThRoewer · Jun 2, 2016

Unfortunately I had so far no luck with even keeping malus alive for an extended period of time, which is a shame because I had some really nice ones.
So far I had more luck with giganteas.

To trigger spawning it may be helpful to simulate moon phases.
While I also simulate day length, I don't think it is important for tropical species. Near the equator the day length doesn't change enough to be of significance. That is more something of importance for subtropical or temperate species that need to time their spawning with the seasons.

OrionN · Jun 2, 2016

AD87 said:
Minh,

How is the anemone I sent you? Did it show any signs of what species it is?

He grew some with feeding to about a 50 cents coin. He settle in the sand even at that size so I think he is a H. malu (95% certain). He is very beautiful with a lot of purple color. I will try to take pictures of my four Malu this weekend and post them on this thread. I have been feeding them every other day for the last two weeks.
I agree with ThRower, for tropical species, length of day and temp never varies very much. It seem that moonlight cycle is what stimulate spawn, at least in corals.
I have Radions over the tanks and have the light on the moonlight cycle.

NumberFish · Jun 8, 2016

I hope you post the pics soon! Are the male and female malu's dimorphous?

clowns4me · Jun 13, 2016

Any updates???

OrionN · Jun 13, 2016

Not much. Just the feeding phase right now

nemguy · Jun 16, 2016

How big of a piece do you feed each specimen is it relative to their size?

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Minh's attemps at H. malu sexual reproduction

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