Help with wild caught anenome ID

[scotteod]

Does anyone know what kind of anenome this is? Anyone have any experience with them in a reef tank, especially a nano?

I caught it Sunday in about 8 feet of water, in some sand and rubble near a rocky area off of Singer Island (S. Florida, Atlantic coast).

It has a yellow basal disc, about 1" in diameter, and when fully open, the body expands to about 3" in diameter. The center tentacles are mottled brown surrounded with a "skirt" of tiny tentacles. The center tentacles and surrounding skirt are extremely sticky.

I'm trying to keep it in sand temporarily and away from rocks (and permanent attachment, hopefully) until I can ID it. It happily eats frozen mysis shrimp.

I'm leaning towards Actinoporus elegans.... If I can't figure it out in another day or so, it's going back to the ocean, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks.

 

[WaterPond]

thats aiptasia i think. I've read its really bad for aquariums because it shocks everything it comes in contact with, it can kill corals, fish and inverts. If that is what it is.

 

[Fluff]

I agree it looks like aiptasia and not something you want in your tank. It will spread like crazy as well as being an aggressive species.

 

[scotteod]

Aiptasia doesn't have a 1" diameter opaque (yellow) basal disc ("foot").

I'm still googling around... Maybe a collared sand anemone (Phyllactis flosculifera)?

 

[Fluff]

I've seen some pretty large aiptasia, and they can have a 1" diameter foot. As for color, that would depend on how inflated it was, what species, location, etc. etc. Hopefully we are wrong and it's something awesome. Keep us posted on your findings.

 

[roka64]

I just nuked a bunch of aiptasia that had yellow basal disc. I agree with Fluff mine was a little smaller than a golf ball. Mine looked exactly like that one in the pic. It seems they retract into the rock and not into themselves like other anenomes.

+++EDIT+++
Joe's juice worked like a charm.....

 

[scotteod]

Since I pulled it out of sand and rubble, and held it in my hands, I'm 100% sure it's not an aiptasia. It closed up on itself like an anenome. It has an opaque basal disc with a distict foot like an anenome. It is mobile (moving around in the sand, trying to eat my cup coral) like an anenome... It also has a "beard" of tiny appendages surrounding the main tentacles, which I have never seen on an aiptasia.

Please send some suggestions with a little more imagination. I just pulled it out of the Atlantic, not my LFS....

Thanks again folks!

 

[seaham358]

Suggestion... Put it back in the ocean...
Why would you put something that you have no clue what it is into a small tank?
When it kills your corals maybe then you'll take it back?

 

[Nikkiheartsfish]

c.f. Aiptasia mutabilis aka atlantic aiptasia, the florida rock anemone. Point of capture (Atlantic) has little bearing on imaginitivity of identifications. If sold usually around $9-12 dollars in LFS. Hardy, doesn't seem to spread as quickly as other aiptasia species. Be careful of what you take from the ocean, especially if you have no idea what it is. HTH.

 

[melosu58]

Please send some suggestions with a little more imagination. I just pulled it out of the Atlantic, not my LFS....

No imagination is needed I think they`ve done a pretty good job of describing what it is. Imagination is telling you what you want to hear. On a site like this folks will give you there opinion based on experience and knowledge. You`ve continued to shrugg off everyone. If you already know then why ask.

 

[Devilishturtles]

It closed up on itself like an anenome. It has an opaque basal disc with a distict foot like an anenome. It is mobile (moving around in the sand, trying to eat my cup coral) like an anenome... It also has a "beard" of tiny appendages surrounding the main tentacles, which I have never seen on an aiptasia.

And Aiptasia sp. are anemones.

I suggest you google some pictures of Aiptasia. Not all of them look exactly the same, as Fluff suggested, and yours looks like an Aiptasia in my opinion as well. They can grow up to 4 inches in diameter, so yours is by no means large.

 

[scotteod]

It's funny to see the differences in online communities...

Lots of newbies say things like, "Buy a harpoon boy if that is aipasia you are screwed"

Then there are moderators on other sites with 4000+ posts:

"Phyllactis flosculifera uncommon caribbean sand dwelling anemone similar in behavior to Ceriathus tube anemones."

"This is one of the many temperate non hosting Atlantic anemone. It will be fine in a reef tank but will not host clown fish. It is not an Aptasia."

I'm doing my research based on the first guy's opinion, since I agree the behavior of this anenome is more similar to the tube anenome in my tank than any aiptasia I've ever seen.

Since none of us are "experts", I think we should all be reading these posts at face value. I wasn't trying to offend.

I appreciate that the coloration and some of the structure may appear similar to that of the aiptasia. But I have had aiptasia in my aquariums. I know how they have reacted in my aquariums when touched. I don't think this is an aiptasia. It just doesn't respond like one. I was simply asking for less common (maybe I shouldn't have said more imaginative) answers.... Geez.

As far as not picking up something you don't know what it is... I don't know if I should even respond to that, at the risk of starting an online circus. How do you think anyone ever learns about anything new? Someone has to have some curiosity.... I understand the risks. I believe I have mitigated these by placing it into my small tank with relatively few and hardy specimens, most of which I have collected locally. And, I will retun the animal (unharmed and well fed, I might add) when I figure out what it is and if I decide not to keep it.

Before the lectures start, please remember that if everyone that lives near the ocean stops collecting, then the frag trading shows will start to get boring. I take great pains to avoid damaging anything. I never take an entire colony of anything. I never take SPS. etc. etc.

If there is anyone left on this forum that is not personally offended by any of my responses, and has any new ideas on the ID of this animal, I would very much appreciate to hear from you.

Thanks again!

 

[Nikkiheartsfish]

I call 'em as I see 'em. Thinking a type of rock anemone, probably Florida rock anemone. Sand anemone (Phyllactis) looks pretty good as an ID too, except not all seem to exhibit the skirt. Anemones are so variable in size, tentacles, color, even amongst their own species. Really, should just look at the information, pictures, and just choose what you think it is. Not offended by your post, and if you know the risks of what you take, then by all means take it if you are respectful to the environment. I personally wouldn't touch something that I couldn't at least take a good guess on what it was. Could be protected or endangered (not saying your anemone could be, that's pretty unlikely. Just an in general scenario), for instance, which would be highly illegal. Anyway, it looks like forums have all given you multiple IDs that are all at least likely. The next step could be to go to wetwebmedia.com and try to post your identification there. The people that reply are extremely experienced and quite a few of them have written their own books on marine, freshwater, etc, and are fairly definitive. HTH.

 

[artoledo]

I don't consider myself an expert is the marine aquarium world, but i do consider myself a google search expert (laughing inside), but it looks like to me that you may have caught a Bunodosoma cavernata, or "Warty Anemone". These species are typicaly found in the Atlantic and reports from The Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce Fl, shows that these species inhabit the Mangrove population. Here is a pic of what one looks like. http://www.whozoo.org/inverts/other/PoriCnids/WartyAnemone063002_148.jpg

Not sure if this will help, but it looks alot like this thing to me. HTH
It also looks like a Mann's Anemone, but those are found in Hawaii. Maybe its a type of mann anemone?

 

[scotteod]

Good ideas, all, and thanks again for your efforts.

I'm going to take it back to its home. It's spent the past two nights pulling itself through my sand bed, foot planted firmly on the bottom glass and making a furrow in the sand with its head, "chasing" a small colony of cup coral. I moved the coral colony to the other side of my tank, and the critter changed direction and starting chasing it again... I even caught it with its mouth open, reaching for the coral. It's funny to watch, but I don't want the agressive behavior.