Fun with Pseudocorynactis

A friend of mine was importing corals years back and came across this hitchhiking "anemone." I jumped at the chance to keep one in my own aquarium for a while and I thought it'd be fun to quickly share some of the experience here, since it's a non-photosynthetic coral (corallimorph, technically) that's a bit different than most. 

The good

- it looks like an anemone, but is much hardier

- it's non-photosynthetic, so lighting is irrelevant (this particular coral showed no sensitivity to intense light)

- unlike most non-photosynthetic corals, Pseudocorynactis does not rely on constant or tediously frequent feedings

The bad

- See above! They're non-photosynthetic and don't require constant feeding… which means they rely on big meals whenever they can get them…which means they are very, very adept at catching prey with potent nematocysts (check out the balls on the end of the tentacles).

Spitting out the meatless remains of a tuxedo urchin that bumped into it…

Eating a sand-sifting star also unlucky enough to come in contact with it's tentacles (they are like glue!)

Spitting out the remains of the star...

Happy again, and even bigger as the lights go down... a mushroom coral that could expand to about 16 inches.

Haha, well it'd depend on the species, feeding, etc, etc... But I'm suddenly reminded of Little Shop of Horrors :)

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by meowzer 

You mean to tell me that the itty bitty cornyactis anemones that we have all over our tanks can get that big????????

 

GREAT PICS BTW!!!