Rock Flower anemone successful split.

[darrick001]

Has anyone else had a rock flower anemone split? I had my first one about a week ago. All my research says they can't split. This was not a traditional split. It did not divide down the middle. It divided by splitting the lower half of its foot off. Imagine separating the stem and the cap of a mushroom. At first I thought it would die . its been a week and the lower foot section is growing tentacles and the disk has healed. The upper disk is accepting food already. I wish I had taken pictures of the entire process. I didn't realize what was happening until it was to late. I will post pics of the 2 sections tomorrow.

 

[Hexacorallia]

Yes asexual budding. Rock flowers are veryy hardy and split often if fed.

 

[darrick001]

Do you know where I can find more information on this type of splitting. I have not been able to locate any. Every piece of information I have read says they only reproduce sexually. I have a friend that has been successfully breading them for years and has never seen a rock anemone split. A local retailer has been breading them for over 10 years and has not seen it happen. I'm not questioning you i just want to find more information. If you have a link I would appreciate it.

 

[darrick001]

Here are the pictures. The green anemone is the one that split. The small colorless one next to it was the bottom 2 inches of its foot.

 

[Postal]

That's not a rock flower anemone, Phymanthus crucifer (or Epicystis crucifer if you prefer).
It's appears to be Phymanthus buitendijki or Borneman's anemone. That would explain the budding instead of the sexual reproduction of the Caribbean rock flowers.

 

[darrick001]

It was purchased as a crucifer but after researching the bornemans I think you are correct. Thanks for the information. It seems there are no shortcuts in multiplying rock flowers.

 

[garygb]

Postal +1 As far as I know, Epicystis crucifer only reproduce sexually.

 

[Postal]

I wonder if the hobby will ever drop the outdated Epicystis in favor of the current Phymanthus genus when it comes to crucifer.