Anemone Identification Please

[danield]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/16331mini-Greentip.JPG


Ive had this anemone for a couple of months now, and have looked and searched all around, but not exactly shure what it is.

Purchased from LFS billed as a green tip carpet.

Nice paterns and neon green tips but really wondering what it is.

Thank you in advance!

[garygb]

H. malu, possibly H. crispa

[garygb]

Do the tentacles vary in length? How big is the anemone? Is it dug into the sand? Again, I would say H. malu, but it could be H. crispa.

[danield]

>Do the tentacles vary in length? How big is the anemone? Is it >dug into the sand? Again, I would say H. malu, but it could be H. >crispa.

Yes from 3/4" to 1 1/2"

Full expanded about 7" diameter

He(s) moved about the tank for a couple of weeks than settled in the right rear corner foot firmily planted on the glass in about 1 1/2 " of sand.

When it is expanded the tentacles some times form little groups in different areas making it look like a small boquet of flowers.

Been trying to get it to eat, krill, silversides, mysis, microvert (target) I do put phyto in this tank as there are other filter feeders.

Seams finejust concerned about its eating (non) habits

Thank You

[garygb]

Malu often has tentacles that vary in length, so I'm thinking that is the species. Also the way it is attached sounds like H. malu. FYI, clarkii is their only natural symbiont, if you decide you ever want a clown--though others would most likely go in it in aquaria.

[maxxII]

Need pictures of the base and column to make an accurate ID. Based solely on what I've seen of the tentacles, it matches my H.crispa anemone.

Nick

[Amphiprion]

I agree on the column and underside of the oral disc. Without that, I would still lean more toward an H. crispa.

[danield]

Sorry it took me a while to get pict, edit it and post.

Here is a picture from the side, it does not show the foot.
Did you want me to try and to get him to release, with out injuring him?
Looks hike hes really tight in that corner.

Thanks in advance for all your guy's help on the id :)

Dan

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/16331greentipbase.JPG

[garygb]

That is a Macrodactyla doreensis, LTA. And no, don't bother him. Although in the shallow a sand bed, it's going to move on you. They prefer 5 or 6 inches. You can fill a PVC pipe that is 6 inches long with fine aragonite and they will attach at the bottom.

[danield]

Would you use a 6" pipe of say 5-6" diamater, or larger?

I guess its off to menards for a 6" dia pvc coupling to fill.

Dan

[garygb]

I would get a 6" pipe of either 5 or 6" in width. I know at Home Depot you can get a PVC piece that you can seal at the end with more PVC. The whole thing is about 6 inches long. I had a large LTA once and it stayed stationary for years in one of those. However, before I figured out that sealing the bottom was the trick, it would attach to the bottom of the tank and then eventually actually move the PVC pipe. The way I sealed it was I glued it on using aquarium silicon. If you could find one with a PVC end piece that screws on, that would save you the trouble of glueing it together.

[danield]

Well I placed the anemone in a 6" Pvc cap, and it is so happy it has expanded larger than I have EVER seen it.

It is in excess of 7" in diamater now. :D

I also increased the Alk a little over the past week or so, it was 7 dkh so I moved it up to 9 dkh.

So here is a picture of the Green tip LTA & Clown.

Thanks so much guys!! :cool:

Dan

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/danielddw/GreentipClown.jpg

[OrionN]

That is not a M. doreensis. M. doreensis have a red base column. Your picture show almost all the column and no red pigment at all. I look just like a H. crispa to me (Maybe a H. malu which have less dense tentacles). BTW, all three are sand bed anemones.

[garygb]

Orion, I would agree the tentacles aren't typical LTA, but then in the pic with the column apparent, it looks like M. doreensis. Either way Dan, I'm glad it has dug in for you and is looking so healthy. I must say, in that last pic in the PVC it really does look like crispa or malu. Sorry I'm so indecisive, I started off with crispa or malu, then I saw that one pic with the spots that look like M. doreensis, now I'm thinking malu or crispa again. It doesn't matter per se, because as Orion mentioned, they all require the same thing, but it would be nice to know definitively just for the sake of knowing.

[OrionN]

Gary,
H. malu and H. crispa have spots like that too, not just M. doreensis. This anemone does not have the orange base column that is characteristic for M. doreensis (plus the tentacles does not look like M. doreensis)
I am sure that it is a H. malu.

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

I think its an H. Malu too.. thats what the tentacles on my H. Malu looked like but I couldn't get it in the pictures because the anemone was too small. H. Crispa's are a solid color and H. Malu's look like they have rings on their tentacles. Thats how I can tell the difference. Very nice clear pictures danield.
Here is a picture of a H. Crispa..see its a solid color ..no rings
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7453/lg020408241ajn7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[garygb]

Yeah, Orion, I thought maybe the red base was concealed in the sand in that one pic, but you're right, M. doreensis always has either a red or orangish colored base (as does H. aurora). Christina, I'm with you, I think it's probably H. malu too, if I had to bet on it.

[garygb]

Dan, if you wanted, now that it's happily dug in, you could put some live rock around to hide the PVC.

[marc price]

[QUOTE]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11817789#post11817789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wicked_NaCl_h2o
[B]"I think its an H. Malu too.. thats what the tentacles on my H. Malu looked like but I couldn't get it in the pictures because the anemone was too small. H. Crispa's are a solid color and H. Malu's look like they have rings on their tentacles. Thats how I can tell the difference."

although i'm not 100% on a h. crispa i.d. i don't agree with your conclusion.
his anemone doesn't have rings around it's tentacles. what may look like rings to you are not the rings described of h. malu which are distinct bands of different shades or color. what you are seeing have been apparent on large anemones labeled h. crispa (which looked like h. crispa), by live aquaria. notice the rings in the below pic of h. malu:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w261/mp9_/img0080.jpg

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

ripples or rings..how ever you decribe the pattern on a H. Malu's tentacles. H. Crispas don't have a pattern on their tentacles. H. Crispa's may have a lot of different colors but they don't have a pattern.

btw..your picture didn't show up.

I know that the picture I provided is an H.crispa because it is my H.crispa. Its tentacles are completly different from a H. Malu. The underside (foot) is the same but the tentacles is how you can tell the difference.

[marc price]

here is a link to the picture http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/ebooks/img0080.jpg

christina, i don't think you're correct about the striation's.
my last H. crispa had light straw colored tentacles which were solid in color as you describe yours to be. my current sebae developed (started out solid), the striations on darker honey colored tentacles of the same color as the oral disc. if your observation is correct my current sebae would be H. malu. i'm still not sure, but for other reasons.
i previously said live aquaria has had a few pic's of what they called H. crispa which were large with long striated tentacles, as have some of the larger H. crispa pictures which have been posted on this forum (do a search).
one characteristic of dan's anemone as well as my current sebae which could point to H. malu is the different color (shade) of the top of the column,s underside of the oral disc. H. malu's is violet-brown because of zooxanthellae. another would be the short length of their tentacles although that could be size related. i'll have to wait and see. my sebae's oral disc is currently ~ 6.5" and the longest tentacles are about 2.5". my last sebae had a 12"-15" oral disc /4" adv. straw colored tentacles on a violet/grey oral disc. it's column was more consistent with the overall white grey color although it too was slightly violet geryish at the top. so i don't know, perhaps phender will chime in ...

[sarahkucera]

If I remember correctly, H Crispa (which I own) has extremely sticky verrucae of nearly the same color as rest of the disc which appear small and almost randomly placed on the underside of the oral disc and H Malu has larger (in relation) verrucae which appear to radiate out more in a straight line from the base towards the edge of the underneath of the oral disc.

[marc price]

i've seen what were clearly H. malu (exhibiting multiple wide tentacle bands), which didn't really have any noticeable verrucae differences from my last H. crispa.
sarah, if you can get a hold of a copy of Invertebrates A Quick Ref. Guide by julian sprung, there is good a pic on p. 58 of H crispa's verrucae. i just don't see those differences in comparing verrucae's size and pattern relative to tentacle size with this picture http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/ebooks/img0080.jpg. of H. malu.