What kind of anemone was this?

[redfishsc]

(pre-apology for not having a pic, and the last thing you want to look at is a pathetic attempt to draw what this thing looked like)


A while back I was at one of those less-than-useful LFS's that had a BEAUTIFUL anemone in their main display, and they had kept it for several years.

They had no idea what it was (I asked the owner myself). They also refused to sell it.

It was hosting either a Clark or a Tomato clown, I can't recall. It was attached to the glass up near the surface, assumedly trying to soak up as much VHO as they were giving it.


The anemone's base was about 4-6" around and was a pinkish/orange color.

The tentacles were very THIN, about 1-1.5" long and the same pinkish color..... but every one of them was tipped with a big white ball.

Every tentacle was the same length, giving the anemone the appearance of having a "flat top haircut" if you will.

I have DEFINITELY ruled out any form of carpet, LT, BTA, ritteri, sebae, condy, ----- any form you commonly see at an LFS.

I have never seen one before and never seen one since.

Any wild guesses (and links or pics to what you guess) would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Matt

 

[dalston]

Mertensii maybe?

 

[OrionN]

dalston,
I am not sure what the picture of your anemone is but it is not a S. mertensii.

Mat ,
I think you describe a H. magnifica which is the Ritteri anemone or Magnificent anemone. Get up on the glass to soak up more light. If the bubble at the tip, then it is a H. magnifca but if the bubble just near the tip (have a nipple appearance) then it is the Bubble tip anemone or E. quadricolor.
Still nothing beat a good picture. Here is a picture of my H. magnifica (tiny one, only 6 inches)

 

[redfishsc]

Definitely not a mertense.

It is possible that what I saw was a magnifica.

However, if it was, the tentacles on this particular one were a LOT thinner than any other magnifica I've ever seen.

That, and the shape of the balls on the end were MUCH more pronounced than those on any other magnifica I've seen (the balls weren't the nippled BTA type).

Maybe I'll fire up "Paint" and see if I can make a pathetic representation of the nem.

 

[redfishsc]

Alright. Here is the incredibly pathetic attempt to reproduce what this nem looked like.

Essentially what makes it stand out to me as "odd" and different than any anemone I've seen is the very thin tentacles with the perfect sphere-shaped balls on the ends, and the remarkable consistency in their length.

The balls formed a flat, white "plane" if you will--- in other words, they didn't "hang loose" like a big BTA or macrodactyla will.

I dunno, maybe it was one of those dangifeyeknow anemones that was tossed in a bucket by a diver out on some remote tropical island.



And NO I DID NOT intend to make this thing look like a birthday cake, so don't even go there:rollface:

 

[Musho3210]

Toadstool coral?
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/content_images/3/toadstool-med.jpg

If it is that, it's not a nem. Most are easy to care and cheap, the more expensive ones are the green tipped ones and the yellow fiji ones. The yellow fiji can be a little more difficult than most.


Other thing could be a plate coral, which again is not an anemone.

http://www.cornejo.net/reeftank/images/Plate_Coral_02.jpg


I don't know any anemones that look like what you drew...

 

[OrionN]

It can be either BTA or H. magnifica. both can look like that on the glass

 

[redfishsc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14247958#post14247958 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Musho3210
Toadstool coral?


I don't know any anemones that look like what you drew...

While I know it wasn't a toadstool, the truth is the tentacles looked a LOT more like a toadstool's tentacles. Good guess and thanks for mentioning that.

The base was decidedly an anemone-type base, had obviously crawled up the glass, and had no hard skeleton, so I'd have to rule out the plate coral as well.

Thanks for all the help and guesses everyone.

No telling what it was. This was before I had a camera phone :thumbdown