Mystery Sebae

[garygb]

Looks like a malu to me. I suppose it could be crispa, but I'd bet it to be malu.

 

[InsaneClownFish]

My vote goes to H. Crispa. Either way I'm glad it is doing well for you.

 

[elegance coral]

It is beginning to look and act like crispa. You can take malu off the table though. That's simply not an option. If it is crispa, and if you can get it to survive, you will have a very impressive and unique critter.

 

[jer77]

"Purple Milk Anemone!" How do they come up with this stuff? Looks like you saved a nice H. crispa to me.

 

[ezhoops]

mine doesn't seem to feed when I feed it. I haven't yet tried to feed it when its extended (after lights out) I intend to do that today.

Its about 6 inches from my MP 10 and I have that set at about 35%. I was nervous at first because I wanted it to stay put and never adjusted my flow higher (normally run it at about 60-75 surge)

Mine does seem to like a gentler flow (at least thats when it fully extends)

Also mine is not being hosted by my onyx x perc pair yet

 

[ChuckLawson]

It's a little more open today; it's hard to tell how big it actually is since it's draped itself across the rocks. It's maybe 6 1/2 - 7" here across the widest portion:

At least I can see something of the oral disc and mouth at this point; it's all the same plum color as the base. Mouth seems to stay open about 1/2 an inch, haven't tried feeding it yet.

 

[garygb]

Elegance Coral wrote: "It is beginning to look and act like crispa. You can take malu off the table though. That's simply not an option. If it is crispa, and if you can get it to survive, you will have a very impressive and unique critter."

How can you be so certain, based on the available pics, that it is crispa instead of malu. You initially said it "is most likely magnifica." I think that can definitely be taken off the table. I don't see anything in any of the pics to suggest it is a magnifica. But, I have seen malu with similar color to that and with tentacles that resemble the pics. Likewise, it very well could be crispa. I'm just curious why you feel malu "is off the table. It's simply not an option," as you put it.

 

[elegance coral]

How can you be so certain, based on the available pics, that it is crispa instead of malu.

I never said it was crispa. I said "if" it is crispa, and "its starting to look and act like crispa.". It can not be malu because the pedal disk is to large. This would be like looking at a dog, with legs that are two feet long, and calling it a dotson/wiener dog. It can not be a wiener dog if it has legs that are two feet long. This anemone can not be malu with a pedal disk that large.

You initially said it "is most likely magnifica."

In that same post I also said "Need better pic's when/if it opens up."

I don't see anything in any of the pics to suggest it is a magnifica.

Then we have a difference of opinion. The first pic resembles a deflated mag to me. As you know, identifying anemones from a pic, when they are deflated, can be very difficult. That is why I did not offer a conclusive ID. Just a guess until better pic's could be obtained.

 

[obscenecreation]

Wow very nice I like it

 

[Skrubz]

Here is a pic of my Crispa. It has the purple tips but the foot is not purple like yours. You could compare it to these pics.

<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/?action=view&current=100_0476.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/100_0476.jpg" border="0" alt="Sebae foot"></a>

<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/?action=view&current=100_0475.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/100_0475.jpg" border="0" alt="Sebae"></a>

 

[garygb]

Thanks elegance for providing the information. I haven't owned a malu, but I have seen some with tentacles that look similar to the anemone pictured. I was curious what the distinguishing characteristic(s) were for you.

And I agree that pics can lead to an inaccurate id, especially when the anemone is deflated and/or the column is difficult to see.

 

[ChuckLawson]

Here is a pic of my Crispa. It has the purple tips but the foot is not purple like yours. You could compare it to these pics.

<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/?action=view&current=100_0476.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/100_0476.jpg" border="0" alt="Sebae foot"></a>

<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/?action=view&current=100_0475.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/reefmom/100_0475.jpg" border="0" alt="Sebae"></a>

Very nice -- thanks for posting those!

I'm not sure how much difference these make in classification, but I don't see anything like the dots or striations on the back of the oral disk on yours (this may be due to the dark color on mine), and the color on the tips is a well-defined pinpoint spot (maybe the size of the head of a pin) rather than the entire tip being colored...

 

[phender]

It has already expanded too large to be H. malu. That leaves H. crispa. However, purple is a totally wrong color for the column of H. crispa and considering the uniformity and depth of the purple color, I can't believe that more of you haven't jumped on the fact that it has almost certainly been dyed.
Being dyed is not a death sentence and I have seen some that have kept their color for several months, but unless someone has discovered a new population of H. crispa unknown to anemone researchers, that puppy has been dyed.

 

[Skrubz]

It is not seen in the pic as well, but mine does have the defined pinhead spot on each of the tentacles, its just that the color continues, and most sebaes' will develop more color as it adjusts to environment/lights. Just thought I could show you a pretty clear pic of the underside for comparison. Agree with posts, hard to id if anemone isn't completely open.

 

[ezhoops]

Don't want to hi Jack thread but mine is flipping over daily and have no idea why? Is it dying? Any ideas?

 

[jer77]

Its still hard to tell what color it is with those pics. The colors could be coming from the lights or it could be dyed. Those are some pretty bright colors for a crispa. Chances are lending to a dyed one though. Its extremely rare to find a healthy colored crispa that's not bleached in your LFS.

 

[taylor t]

I don't have any pictures of when I got it, but it was sold at a LFS as a malu. I always thought mine was malu, until I was corrected. It was the size of a cup cake, and had small "ball" tentacles with rings on them. The last couple years, it hasn't grown much, I guess it's 8" now and grew most of that the first 6 months or so, but the tentacles have lost almost all the rings, and have gotten very long. They are short around the mouth, and longer around the edges. Here is mine today, I guess mine is a crispa. It's more purple in person, camera doesn't capture it though.

ChuckLawson, what ever type you have, it's a beauty!