S. Gigantea or S. Mertensii?

[blueroof]

Despite reading everything I could get my hands on I am unsure of the species of my new anenome. I originally thought it was mertens for the following reasons.

1. Highly folded disc margin
2. Longer and more widely spaced tentacles near the mouth
3. In its previous tank and my tank it choosen to attach to a rock and not
deep sand bed.
4. It has 2 Clarks clowns hosting in it that are almost completely black. I
have read that clarkii's that host in merten's turn black.
5. Bumps (verrucae) on the column. Although not orange.

I have had different people, much more experienced than myself, tell me both that it is a S. Giganea and S. Mertensii . I really don't care which one it is, I just want to educate myself. Either way it seems to be thriving in the tank. Thanks for any opinions.:rollface:

 

[marc price]

does the color of the verrucae extend all the way down the column to the foot? at what distance from the mouth do the tentacles begin? also how big is it?

 

[blueroof]

I dont recall if the verrucae extend all the way down. Lights are out now, I will try to get a photo of the foot tonight. The tentacles begin about .75 to 1 inches from the mouth. It is about 18 inches across.

 

[BonsaiNut]

I am one of the "S. gigantea" crowd. To me it doesn't look like a S. mertensii at all, but then again I have spent a lot of time looking at giganteas.

Take a picture of the column. Verrucae on the column of S. mertensii are very distinctive and differ substantially from those on the column of S. gigantea.

This is what I think you will see (S. gigantea verrucae):