Strange Growths Inside RBTA Tentacles w/Pics

[Beverly]

Was looking at our RBTA this morning and noticed some white, thread-like growths inside a few tentacles. They could have been there for days or weeks for all I know, but I just noticed them today.

Anybody have any idea if this is normal or if there is something wrong with the RBTA?

TIA

120g BB tank
2 x 175w 10,000k MH
4 x 65w PC actinics
alk 12 dkh
Ca 460 ppm
Mg 1370 ppm
80 F
located in a lower flow area
minor adjustment to rock it is on yesterday
15% water change and regular maintenance yesterday

Circled areas indicate some of the tentacles affected....

Close up of one of the affected tentacles...

 

[pncstod]

I've seen this before and wondered what it is myself. I hope you get an answer soon. Great pics BTW.

 

[Beverly]

pncstod,

What happened to your BTA? Did it continue to thrive or did it go downhill after having those stringy growths inside the tentacles?

 

[55semireef]

I have seen that too in my RBTA and never had a problem.

 

[pncstod]

When I first recieved the BTA is had lost some zooxanthellae, not baddly. It was tannish brown and had those white squiggles. That was three weeks ago. Now it seems to be improving and turning green. It still has those white things, no more or no less.
On a health scale of one to ten (ten the best) I would say it's at an eight.

I would take a picture for you, but I don't think I would be able to get the detail you did. I can tell you though, they look just like yours.

I'm not sure if it is an indicator of health or what. At one time I was even thinking parasites, but like I said before they haven't changed at all. I searched around the internet but couldn't find anything. I was going to ask here but it seems so hard to describe with out a pic.

I can tell you also that I have seen this several times before over the years of reefkeeping (not mine though, this is my first BTA), and the BTAs that I've seen with it seemed to be fairly healthy.

Colleen

 

[Beverly]

Colleen,

I've had this RBTA for over a year. It has done well in the two tanks it has been in during that time. Maybe it has had these stringy things inside off and on all this time and I never really noticed. It appears as healthy as ever, except for the unusual strings. I will feed it tomorrow and I expect it will eat normally.

 

[pncstod]

Oh also. I was given a large rock with two BTAs attached. The other one is purple. The purple one I worry about more...he roams and is harder to get to eat, but he has great color and doesn't have any of the white squiggles.

So I can assume it isn't something to do with the tank or else they should both have them.

 

[pncstod]

I am wondering if it maybe strech marks of sorts.....the green BTA has bubble tips at least twice a day, the purple one is always long and stringy. I notice in your pic yours is somewhat displaying bubble tips....just a thought.

BTW Is that your grandchild??? Beautiful!!! Looks to be about the same age as my new daughter.

 

[Slakker]

can you post a picture of that purble BTA? I've never heard of a purple color morph!

 

[bureau13]

Funny, I just noticed the exact same thing while looking through some pictures I took this week. I have never noticed it before, but in all other ways my BTA looks and acts exactly the same as always, so I suspect they've always been there.

 

[pncstod]

Slakker
I'll try tomorrow. Lights are off now. I have tried before to get it's color but haven't had luck. I need to play around with the flash to get it's true color.

Also not sure if it is going to stay this way since both nems were housed together and the other is drasticly changing, but against coraline it's a shade lighter and a shade browner....does that make sence? I am thinking (hoping) it goes rose.

 

[Flighty]

Funny, I was just getting pictures to post about this with magnificas. What happens (as far as I can tell) is that with stress like a rapid salinity change the inner layer of tissue seperates from the outer almost like a finger being pulled out of a glove. The white stuff is the little bit that is still attached. sometimes it makes a string from the attachment point to the inside of the anemone. You can see that happening in the pic above on the tenticle that touches the bottom of the last stripe of the clown. Makes it curly. If you look down into the tenticle sometimes you can see that white tissue all balled up.

The tissue seperation also seems to be independant of the color and zoanthelle in the tissue. Apparently that is all in the outside layer.

In magnificas this seperation prevents the anemone from moving its tenticles independantly, but they still can be sticky and can still move as a group from the base. I had always assumed this condition was fatal, but it seems that it is not. I have not seen recovery nor decline in anemones affected this way after 10 months.

 

[MarinaP]

They are mesenterial filaments.

Here is some good info

http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html

 

[Flighty]

The mesenterial filaments also reside inside of the tenticles? I thought they were only in the digestive area at the center of the anemone and would be seen comming out of the mouth. This is the inner layer of the tenticles we are looking at I believe. Sorry, your link doesn't work. I'd really like to learn more about this.

 

[MarinaP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9105529#post9105529 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flighty
your link doesn't work.

Server in AU must be down. Try later.

 

[Beverly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9101549#post9101549 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pncstod
BTW Is that your grandchild??? Beautiful!!! Looks to be about the same age as my new daughter.

Congrats on your new baby!

Old pic of my granddaughter. She's now 20 months old and in such a steep learning curve! I visit my daughter and granddaughter every Tuesday morning. We play Grandma monster and Rebecca monster, sometimes with hats on, and chase each other around growling and snarling. When one of us catches the other, we tickle, hug and kiss It's great fun that I never seemed to have with my own daughter when she was that age. I must have been too tired from being up half the night with her, even at that age. Glad to be a grandma

Anyway, back to the RBTA. Fed it this morning, no problem. However, I do notice that many of the tentacles with the stringy stuff are a little distorted and not smooth all over the outside of the tentacles like my GBTA. GBTA does not bubble though. RBTA only partially bubbles in the early morning when the actinics are on.

Link is still down, but Google "mesenterial filaments" and you'll find lots of info.