Red carpet gigantea and red carpet haddoni

jimmy007

Member
How can you tell the different between red carpet gigantea and haddoni? If you have picture of both please post.

Thanks,

Jimmy
 
Gigs will have more visible verrucae on the underside of the oral disc --- they look like little bumps. Plus the tentacles are usually longer on Gigs.

Lastly, I have never seen a red Gig, but have seen a few online vendors listing a red Haddoni as a Gig.
 
I also have never seen a red. The only pink one I have seen was on the cover of Martin Moe's "Marine Aquarium Handbook". I saw a large pink carpet years ago in a LFS that I thought was a gigantea, but over the years I am beginning to doubt my memory.
 
There's a very vibrant picture of one with some perculas in Scott Michaels book Damselfishes and Anemonefishes.
 
I also have never seen a red. The only pink one I have seen was on the cover of Martin Moe's "Marine Aquarium Handbook". I saw a large pink carpet years ago in a LFS that I thought was a gigantea, but over the years I am beginning to doubt my memory.

Now you're causing me to doubt my memory as well. I thought the anemone on Martin Moe's book was a crispa. I'll have to locate my copy and check it out again.

Never mind. I found it, and you're right. It's a gigantea. It's badly bleached, so I'm not sure what color it was when healthy. I took a pic of the cover to post it, but my computer is not cooperating.
 
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This one that I tried (( and failed :( )) to recover for a fellow reefer. It arrived to her in poor shape and we thought to try it in my tank.

sugarshaddoni2.jpg


sugarshaddoni4.jpg


And right before I had to take it out,

sugarshaddoni5.jpg
 
I have absolutely seen a red gigantea in the flesh. It was about 10 years ago at a LA wholesaler. There were 2 of them actually. The floor manager wouldn't let me buy them because both of them had holes in their feet and they were VERY expensive.
I have never seen one since.

Another way to tell the two apart is haddonis usually have a thick "lip" around their mouth that is usually pinkish or orange-ish. Giganteas don't have the lip or the color.
 
i haven't seen one either and can't begin to imagine how excited you must've been to see those red gigs. too bad they weren't healthy, what a shame.

yah know, as nice as i'd like to imagine them to be i'd be just as happy with a thriving blue gig.
 
I have absolutely seen a red gigantea in the flesh. It was about 10 years ago at a LA wholesaler. There were 2 of them actually. The floor manager wouldn't let me buy them because both of them had holes in their feet and they were VERY expensive.
I have never seen one since.

Another way to tell the two apart is haddonis usually have a thick "lip" around their mouth that is usually pinkish or orange-ish. Giganteas don't have the lip or the color.

I trust Phil on this one. I wish you had had a camera with you :)
 
I'd be interested in seeing a red gigantea pic. Can someone post one?

Also what would be the reason they're not coming in anymore since Phender has seen them?
 
Also what would be the reason they're not coming in anymore since Phender has seen them?

I think the point of this thread is to state that they have NEVER come in frequently. I've been going to aquarium stores for 35+ years and have never seen one - and the West Coast typically gets the best stock because most shipments come in through LAX. Phil has seen them ONCE - ten years ago - and both were injured and may not have even survived the wholesaler. I do not recall ever seeing a photo of one - anywhere. The only red carpets I have seen have been haddonis (including, in my opinion, the anemone pictured higher up in this thread).

Years ago, I heard that many of the best carpet anemones came out of Sri Lanka, and that warfare in the region was preventing them from being collected. I have no idea how factual this comment was (it came from a wholesaler), but the fact remains that healthy giganteae of any color morph remain somewhat uncommon in the trade.
 
BTW, I should probably also add that a few years ago I spoke with a collector who used to collect giganteas out of Palau. I asked him for a list of all color morphs that he had ever seen and he provided:

brown
green
yellow
dark blue
sky blue
purple
bright pink

I specifically asked if he had ever seen a dark red color, and he had not. About half of the giganteas that he encountered were brown, while the rest were one of the color morphs listed. Also, there seems to be no direct relationship between color of parents and color of offspring. Using 100% colored morphs for brood stock, you still get about 50% brown offspring. I have no idea if brown adults yield 50% colored offspring - someone should try it :)
 
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