Anemone Identification help

[Ricordia]

Hello gang.

As I'm gradually eradicating the Aiptasia in my 150 gallon tank, I'm finding some interesting animals I didn't know were in there! A nice zoanthid colony has been uncovered, and I found a tiny anemone that doesn't look like aiptasia to me. I moved it from the 150 to my nano tank, and it's since bloomed up about three times in size. It looks like a small LTA to me, but I'm far from an expert. I did have a purple tipped LTA in the 150g that disappeared after about three months. The clowns were sad.

This guy was the size of a nickle when I found him. He was attached to a tiny piece of rock in the middle of the aiptasia, so I move him and the rock into the nano. After a few days, he moved himself to his current position under a Cabbage coral, about six inches away from the spot I put him in. AFter moving, he began to open up and extend his tentacles.

Here's a snapshot (sorry for attaching but my website host is having problems), any ideas?

 

[ricky1414]

It kinda look like aiptasia to me, but also resembles a baby condalyctis(sp.). Hmmmm. :?

 

[Ricordia]

Well, it doesn't look anything like the other aiptasia in my 150, but I suppose that isn't as much of an identificaiton factor as I'd like to think. It has also moved again, to the other side of the caggabe corral's root (to the left left in the above picture, where there's a bit more current). None of the aiptaisa in my 150 have moved that I've seen, are they mobile?

If this IS a condy, should I target feed it? Wait till it gets bigger? If this is an aiptasia on the other hand, I want to get rid of it ASAP so I really need a positive ID. Anyone else?

Ricordia

 

[Ricordia]

Anyone else? I can post more pictures if that would help.

Ricordia

 

[Anonymous]

Doesn't look like any Aiptasia I've seen but I'll guarantee I haven't seen them all

If you spook it does it retract lightning fast or does it slowly curl up?

 

[Anonymous]

no expert here but it kinda looks like a smaller version of my florida condies.

 

[Anonymous]

Where is your rock from?


mario

 

[Ricordia]

If you spook it does it retract lightning fast or does it slowly curl up?

It retracts very quickly, pretty much exactly the same as Aiptasia. <sigh> Does that mean it's definately Aiptasia?

Ricordia

 

[Ricordia]

Where is your rock from?

It's aragonite, between 10,000 to 30,000 years old. I collected it here in Utah, just south of the Great Salt Lake.

Ricordia

 

[Anonymous]

Where is your rock from?

It's aragonite, between 10,000 to 30,000 years old. I collected it here in Utah, just south of the Great Salt Lake.Ricordia

Nice. :lol:
So this is not a hitchhiker?
Where are the bulk of your corals from? This obviously came in on something.

mario

 

[Anonymous]

It retracts very quickly, pretty much exactly the same as Aiptasia. <sigh> Does that mean it's definately Aiptasia?

No, it just makes it more likely. BeaslBob could be right (owwww that hurts) and it could be a Condy.

The attribute that steers me away from Aiptasia is the rounded ends on the tentacles. I've never seen that in Aiptasia.

 

[Ricordia]

So this is not a hitchhiker?
Where are the bulk of your corals from? This obviously came in on something.

Well, I don't think it's a hitchhiker because I haven't added any rock to the tank in over a year. I have had an LTA in the tank before (it decided to stuff itself into a powerhead, didn't survive that little walkabout). So I thought it might be an offspring of that somehow. I don't know of any other way I could have gotten him.

Ricordia

 

[Ricordia]

The attribute that steers me away from Aiptasia is the rounded ends on the tentacles. I've never seen that in Aiptasia.

Cool, that makes me feel a little better about this guy. Like I said, I found him on the sand, surrounded by the aiptasia that is infesting my tank. It looks nothing like the brownish orange aiptasia I have. I'll leave it alone and see what happens.

Ricordia

 

[Mihai]

I don't think it's aiptasia, don't kill the guy.
M.

 

[Anonymous]

It retracts very quickly, pretty much exactly the same as Aiptasia. <sigh> Does that mean it's definately Aiptasia?

No, it just makes it more likely. BeaslBob could be right (owwww that hurts) and it could be a Condy.


...

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Guy is much better at identifying anything then I will ever be.

 

[Ricordia]

No, it just makes it more likely. BeaslBob could be right (owwww that hurts) and it could be a Condy.

Well, maybe you don't have to agree with BeaslBob after all... Here are two more pictures I took a few minutes ago. I've also been corresponding with a guy at wetwebmedia.com about this anemone and he wanted a full body shot so I took a chance and moved the cabbage coral to a new spot for a few minutes. This is just after it had fed on some cyclops and a Prime Reef flake. It ate differently than the aiptasia in my main tank, much more sedate and it didn't pull it's disc back when it grabbed the food. But it's looking more and more like a mutant aiptasia to me.

Ricordia

 

[Anonymous]

The Oral disk, Foot, stalk, and tentacle configuration resemble Aiptasia. The rounded Tentacles are throwing me off.

 

[Anonymous]

Its an aiptasia in drag





























:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

perhaps we should name it after the founder?

a ricordia anemone? :lol:

 

[Ricordia]

:lol: