curly cue vs. aiptasia

[mle421]

how can you tell the difference between the two? the picture on Liveaquaria.com looks like what i thought was aiptasia. anyone know how to differenciate?

 

[RMPD109]

purely my observation and limited knowledge but the curly Q has the spiral/rings on each arm.

 

[Phyl]

That thing on your rock looks like the aptasia that I had come in on my LR.com order. I don't know how to tell them apart except that the aptasia has sort of a christmas tree bulb shape to the parts as opposed to that other that looks more uniform taper to it. The curly cue looks like it has stripes. The aptasia that I had didn't. The little ones that I had in the tank looked just like your photo. The big ones were huge. My peppermint shrimp ate them.

 

[mle421]

but mine does have stripes, you just cant tell cause i'm a terrible picture taker ill try and get a better pic for ya

 

[Fluff]

I think your confusion may lie in the poor picture that liveaquaria has. Try this link to a better pic. The curlycue has long curly/wavy tentacles. HTH

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_1...ategory=4&category_search=63&root_parent_id=4

 

[mle421]

better pic

 

[Fluff]

That's apstasia. The curlycue has crinkled (for lack of a better word) tentacles.

 

[MT79]

The one you have is most likely aiptasia. Curlyque and aiptasia's are closely related. A curlyque can be almost as big of a pest as an aiptasia, except they don't reproduce as quickly IME. I HAD a curlyque with 3-4 inch tentacles eat a fully grown fire shrimp. Notice HAD!

 

[mle421]

thanks fluff. i should just pm you all time! you're always the one who figures out my little dilemmas! and your right the curly cue on the site you listed is nothing like mine or the one on liveaquaria! thanks again!

 

[Fluff]

Bah, sometimes I get lucky. LOL But, thanks, glad I could help.