New Green Gig!

Thanks guys.. Since moving and having the little baby onyx residing in it, the green gig has gotten shaggy real quick..... it's going to be a beauty soon!
 
Moved this week, same rock, just about 1-2" toward the back.... literally it's almost facing the back.. frustrating. Still eating like a pig, just not sure why it moved.
 
OK, so woke up, and he's taken to this spot.. Actually, I kind of like the spot and his tentacles are rather long and shaggy... Hope he stays here... Had to move my gigantic frogspawn colony and probably will have to move some of the hammers as well eventually, depending on how he expands.

He never really looked quite happy, and expanded on the rocks, so maybe he just needed to be tucked into the sand the whole time.. I know some people initially thought it was a haddoni, but I was able to see plenty of purple verracue, and the tentacles just don't look haddoni, nor does the posture...

Who knows, maybe I have one of the hybrids Minh has?!?! Either way, LOVE the color on this guy.

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Notice the saddle posture here as it sits on the sand....... haddoni'esque? Tentacle length certainly isn't haddoni'esqe though......... What do you guys think?!?

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Here is mine. They do look alike.
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I was actually going through your album this morning. It's just interesting to me because he never seemed fully happy on the rocks (moving twice) albeit months apart. Now he seems MUCH happier and has the neat saddles. Just fed him, and he looks like this now.... Talk about looking like a haddoni! I did notice that when the food was taken, it exposed his backside a bit and noticed he's stuck to the rock and not the sand from what I could tell.

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The food is in his gut now, and man are the tentacles BACK to bigger and shaggy! Whatever this is, Gigantea, Haddoni, combination of the two.. I LOVE IT. My onyx pair has found it again and was romping around earlier inside.
 
Here's a short video showing the flow for both the Purple & Green... I stayed on the green for a bit so you can see the tentacles being large and not haddoni like... Very interesting this one..

 
The green nem really does look like a haddoni since it has short tentacles, as well as the folds of the disc on the sand. That said, Fautin/Allen do describe haddoni as having verrucae "light rose to purple" and they also describe gigantea as usually lying "at surface of sand" pedal disc "attached to a buried object. Therefore, your nem could be either. Regardless, while it would be nice to have a definitive answer, it's still a stunning specimen.

I just thought of something. Clownfish don't rely on visual cues (rather by smell) to identify their host. If given the choice between their natural host and another anemone, most clowns prefer their natural host. Since you have two anemones in your tank, and one is definitely a gig, one would assume that if your green anemone was a haddoni, it's more likely that your percs would naturally prefer the gig. But it looks like the green nem is the host, or part host.

When I had two gigs, my Onyx clowns traveled between the two, and though they preferred one over the other, the time spent in the second gig was still significant. Maybe someone with a gig and haddoni in the same tank, along with percs, can chime in. I'm curious to know if the percs spend time in the gig and the haddoni, and how much time is divided between the two.
 
That is rather interesting.. Watch the video, you can see MUCH longer tentacles.. The pictures were taken before eating, and now are way longer.. I totally agree that I have no clue what it is, and likely will never know for sure... Either way, I love it, and it is certainly a stunner.

Regarding the clowns... The smaller onyx still calls the green "gig" his first home. When he's signaled into the purple he will go over there with his lady friend. That being said, they really split their time and I often time walk by and they will both be laying arund in the green gig, so there clearly is not a preference one way or the other. The female spends her time primarily in the purple, and the smaller guy in the green. This could very well be that the female was in the purple since the beginning, and the male first took to the green. It took him some coaxing by the female to even go in the purple in the first place. So really, they are both equal hosts to our pair. Great information though!

I love this forum, there are some great people here.. Thank you D-Nak.


The green nem really does look like a haddoni since it has short tentacles, as well as the folds of the disc on the sand. That said, Fautin/Allen do describe haddoni as having verrucae "light rose to purple" and they also describe gigantea as usually lying "at surface of sand" pedal disc "attached to a buried object. Therefore, your nem could be either. Regardless, while it would be nice to have a definitive answer, it's still a stunning specimen.

I just thought of something. Clownfish don't rely on visual cues (rather by smell) to identify their host. If given the choice between their natural host and another anemone, most clowns prefer their natural host. Since you have two anemones in your tank, and one is definitely a gig, one would assume that if your green anemone was a haddoni, it's more likely that your percs would naturally prefer the gig. But it looks like the green nem is the host, or part host.

When I had two gigs, my Onyx clowns traveled between the two, and though they preferred one over the other, the time spent in the second gig was still significant. Maybe someone with a gig and haddoni in the same tank, along with percs, can chime in. I'm curious to know if the percs spend time in the gig and the haddoni, and how much time is divided between the two.
 
One have to keep both Gigantea and Haddoni and have other anemones that are "in between" like mine and xtlosx, before he understand and appreciate the clearly in-between nature of these anemones.<O:p</O:p
Various fish in the same genus naturally have hybrid in the wild. This does not dissolve the line between the two species (various tang and angel fish to name a few). It is theorized that some clownfish have natural occurring hybrid. In all instances, the hybrid fish are rare.<O:p</O:p
I firmly believe that my green anemone is a Haddoni/Gigantea hybrid. My observation seems to confirm that this is the case.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
This is my $.02 on this subject. :)
 
One have to keep both Gigantea and Haddoni and have another anemone that is "in between" like mine and xtlosx, before he understand and appreciate the clearly in-between nature of these anemones.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Various fish in the same genus naturally have hybrid in the wild. This does not dissolve the line between the two species (various tang and angel fish to name a few). It is theorized that some clownfish have natural occurring hybrid. In all instances, the hybrid fish are rare.<o:p></o:p>
I firmly believe that my green anemone is a Haddoni/Gigantea hybrid. My observation seems to confirm that this is the case.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
This is my $.02 on this subject.

+1 on this comment. It has very obvious Gigantea tendencies, but this mornings walk and not how it looks gives it some haddoni tendencies. Either way, it's an amazing animal. Now that my Radions are 100% (12:30PM-3:30PM) the tentacles are MUCH longer than before... In my opinion, looking at how many haddonis I have, and seeing Green Gigs like CichlidConvert's, this is absolutely an in between. My $.02 as well. I'll continue to document the growth of this animal.
 
Your comments, just today, and video have really made me think harder and harder.

In a positive way... LOL...

The idea of having that large tank for a multiple anemone situation would be a perfect place to test and see.

I still think having a large wave/wade pool with SW and ridges would be a perfect place to study and have them spawn. Instead of harvesting/collecting them in the wild.

Lottery.... what are you at today??
 
OK, last ones for the day, I promise... only because lights are 100% and he looks even more Gig'ish... Notice the non-lipstick mouth, and tentacle length....

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If this isn't a Gig then, heck I don't know what is....
 
What ever it is, you can't go to the corner and buy one! It's worth the effort! Beauty of a nem.

Thanks Taylor.. Lights are starting to go down, and the tentacles are even longer, this thing is wild. It's kinda neat because, it's like a big oval that s sitting on its side. It's huge width wise, just not very tall... real cool looking and my onyx pair LOVES it.
 
Beautiful nems! Congrats!

I just got a carpet myself and it has similar tentacles and posture. It preferred the sand in the LFS during the 3 months it was there and has buried its foot in about 4" of sand in my tank. I don't recall seeing verracue but I have never tried to look all that close. Too nervous to mess with it.

Your tank is inspiring as are many others here. I hope I can provide what my carpet needs.
 
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