Hitchhiker Anemone?

scotty37

Member
Ive been watching this small red spot in my tank, and its finally big enough that I can take a good look at it... unfortunately, my camera is horrible! I even had it out of the tank and couldnt get a good picture of it. Anways, Im pretty certain its an anemone. For the longest time, I thought it looked like a red blood cell with tiny white strings popping out of it, and at the end of the strings were a solid white spot. I painted the best picture I could hoping for help or direction. Knowing my luck, its probably going to kill everything in my tank. I also found another one in the sand next to my overflow box. my bta accidentally went thru my powerhead (which Ive since made adjustments to). Here is the best I could do. It looks like a bright red anemone foot, with small white tentacles, very thin, and a solid white spot at the end of the tentacle (sorta like one of those things you put on your antenna).
 

scotty37

Member
forgot to mention size. Take a look at your fingernail on your pinky, and imagine cutting it into 4 equal sections. Thats about how big it is when is fully up and out.
 

scotty37

Member
wow now that ive taken a longer look at your strawberry picture, that is exactly what the tentacles look like.
 

spanko

Active Member
Ah yes, many strange and wonderous things reside in the crack, crevices, and holes of live rock and continue to appear overtime.
 

spanko

Active Member
Corynactis are a colder water species. Pseudocorynactis are a warm water species. You probably have the pseudo.
Quote
Corynactis
Corynactis spp. are mainly temperate species, known as Strawberry anemones. They are small, not usually larger than one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, and colonial, reproducing by fission and pedal laceration to cover large areas of rocks. Tropical species may occasionally be introduced to aquariums with live rock. The tropical species are less colorful, tend to be cryptic, and form much less densely packed colonies. All Corynactis spp. feed on zooplankton and particulate organic matter. To keep them healthy and encourage division, they need to be fed at least several times per week. A "milkshake" of chopped seafood can be used, but they will also take flake or pelletized foods, and frozen shrimp or worms.
The expanded polyp of Pseudocorynactis caribbeorum. Note the orange ball-like tentacle tips for which the Orange Ball Anemone is named.
Pseudocorynactis
Pseudocorynactis spp. are like Corynactis but are much larger (to about six inches (15 cm) diameter, and usually not colonial. They also reproduce by fission, but it is unusual to find more than about six clones together as a group. The so-called orange ball anemones that can be observed on coral reefs at night are Pseudocorynactis spp. The column varies in color from cryptic shades of brown to orange, red and magenta. The tips of the tentacles are commonly bright orange, but they can also be white. These tentacle tips are extremely sticky, like flypaper, due to the presence of powerful nematocysts. This fact makes the larger species from the Indo Pacific region unsuitable for aquariums housing fishes, which they readily capture. They also can catch mobile invertebrates such as shrimps and snails, and sometimes "attack" sessile invertebrates growing on adjacent rocks, enveloping them in the gastric cavity through a widely opened mouth. Pseudocorynactis spp. can be fed daily, but only require twice weekly feeding to keep them healthy. If they are not fed frequently enough, they shrink. There is a marked behavioral difference between the common Caribbean and Indo-Pacific species.
The Caribbean species, Pseudocorynactis caribbaeorum mainly opens its tentacles at night, and closes rapidly when it senses light. The Indo-Pacific species remains open both day and night, and is not sensitive to light. The presence of food smells (dissolved amino acids) in the water stimulates either species to open up and extend the tentacles, and the caribbean species can be trained to open in the light by feeding it during daylight hours. The mechanism for its apparent memory is not known.
Whether you have a large reef aquarium or a simple small aquarium, any of the corallimorphs can be easily maintained and enjoyed for decades.
 

scotty37

Member
im a little concerned if this is eventually the larger species, which can kill fish and attack smaller items in the tank... should I maybe rid of it now... The article is a little strange in that it seems like its dangerous, then it makes me thing they are quite enjoyable. Maybe hes just talking about a specific larger of that pseudo type thats dangerous?
 
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