ricordia id help....

[plantweanie]

it is so small it isn't showing up on a pic, so let me try a decription here:

the polyp is white, tipped in florescent orange. i read that white is a bad sign, but these are actually extended, flowing and the overall appearance is healthy.

researching richordias, i am finding pics where the color goes from the rock to the tip. i can't find one that is white to a colored tip.

does anyone know what kind of ricordia this is?? i guess floridas take more flow rate and light than yumas, and the lfs didn't know what kind it was.

thanks for any help!

[Ninong]

the polyp is white, tipped in florescent orange. i read that white is a bad sign, but these are actually extended, flowing and the overall appearance is healthy.

"Flowing?"

You're using "flowing" to describe a Ricordea? I've never considered a Ricrodea to have a "flowing" appearance. Are you sure you're looking at a Ricordea? Maybe you're looking at a small anemone of some sort?

You might find this thread from last week helpful. I included some photos of typical examples R. florida and R. yuma.

[plantweanie]

i had checked out some ricordia pics and did not find one that looked close. the lfs insists it is a ricordia. i guess to say 'flowing' was a bad word. 'the very short tentacles move freely with the water' is a better statement.

maybe a little behavior info and new observations will help:

a blood worm fell on one of the polyps. when i went to remove it, the mouth was everted holding the worm. The tentacles are not helping hold it at the mouth. apparently it like blood worms...

polyps are about 1/3 inch, white from where it is attached, topped with florescent orange tips. like a fiber optic look. on closer examination, it appears 2 of the 3 polyps is actually 1 that is splitting since the mouth is in the middle. i gave a little cyclopese and sure enough the one mouth opened and the tentacles on the '2' polyps moved it to the center mouth. there does not appear to be a stalk like i see on anemones.

any ideas if not a ricordia or an anemone??

the pics keep coming out blurry, but i will keep trying...

[Ninong]

a blood worm fell on one of the polyps. when i went to remove it, the mouth was everted holding the worm. The tentacles are not helping hold it at the mouth. apparently it like blood worms...

Yes, both R. florida and R. yuma will eat bloodworms even through they are not a natural food for them.

polyps are about 1/3 inch...

Each individual specimen is one polyp. I have no idea what you are talking about being only l/3 inch???

...white from where it is attached, topped with florescent orange tips. like a fiber optic look. on closer examination,...

That sounds odd for Ricordea.

...it appears 2 of the 3 polyps is actually 1 that is splitting since the mouth is in the middle.

This is really confusing. Ricordea florida polyps will often develop more than one mouth and eventurally each mouth will usually separate to form a new individual polyp. This is much more common in R. florida than R. yuma. The most common method of asexual reproduction in R. yuma is pedal laceration, not fission.

... i gave a little cyclopese and sure enough the one mouth opened and the tentacles on the '2' polyps moved it to the center mouth. there does not appear to be a stalk like i see on anemones.

Ricordea actually do have a foot that attaches to the substrate (rock) but it is not usually visible unless the polyp "trumpets." That simply means that it extends itself in search of whatever -- more light, food, anything.

...any ideas if not a ricordia or an anemone??

I hate to venture a guess based on your description. I think you may be misusing some words. There are very obvious differences between the two species of Ricordea. For one thing, R. yuma have tentacles on the wall of the mouth and R. florida do not. R. yuma does come in a variety that is somewhat different from the two photos that I posted in that it has taller (longer) tentacles uniformly across the oral disc and not just at the fringes. With R. yuma, the tentacles are always longer at the edges. With R. florida the tentacles are more uniform in length across the animal than they are in R. yuma.

It's difficult to describe but once you have seen several R. florida, you will never mistake them for R. yuma.

Didn't the LFS had any idea where these animals came from? R. florida come from the Atlantic/Caribbean and R. yuma come from the Indo-Pacific.

[plantweanie]

ok - here is the pic. i had to doctor it a little to get the critter;s colors to show.

in response to your statements:

the polyps themselves are about 1/3 inch wide.

it is right there in the pics - white tentacles (?) with florescent orange tips.

what looks like 2 separate polyps at the top actually has only 1 mouth, and it is located where what appears to be the 2 polyps joining. it took it about an hour to eat a blood worm, with me watching, plus the cyclopese addition to what i thought were 2 other polyps - tenacles moving the food to the mouth in the center of the 2. 2 confirmed mouths - no tentacles or other appendages at said mouths. just a clearing and a hole at the center.

sorry, still learning the lingo, so you are probably right in that i am not using the right words. hopefully the pic, even as bad as it is, can help narrow it down on what it is. as far as the lfs knowing what it is, well, they say it is a ricordia, but i have yet to see a pic that even resembles this critter. they say it came from a dealer in florida, but according to the sales person, that doesn't necessarily mean it came from the atlantic. keep in mind, these are the same people that said that a scooter blenny was an easy care blenny that was appropriate for a newby like me. i would have thunk that the ricordia identification was correct, and having read up on ricordias, though i couldn't remember what it looked like, it was on my list of 'acceptable for a moron such as myself'. it wasn't until i got home to the books that i realized what i got wasn't what i thought it was.

so, does the pic end the mystery? or do i have an ultra fancy ricordia?

[Ninong]

ok - here is the pic. i had to doctor it a little to get the critter;s colors to show.

Is that the way the colors appear to you? I seem to see a lot of blue. Is that right?

the polyps themselves are about 1/3 inch wide.

That statement of yours is the one that still has me completely confused. You're saying that each of your Ricordea is only 1/3" wide. That's extremely tiny for a Ricordea sold by a dealer. Usually they're at least 1" wide and usually at least 1.5" wide. I can't imagine a dealer actually selling a Ricordea that is only 1/3" wide.

it is right there in the pics - white tentacles (?) with florescent orange tips.

We'll have to ask someone with better eyesight to take a look at your picture. However, I have never seen a Ricordea with "white tentacles with fluorescent orange tips." Usually the tentacles are uniformly the same color, and never white. There can be different colored tentacles on the same polyp but each tentacle is one color. With R. yuma you will frequently see a background color beneath the tentacles that is a different color, frequently purple.

what looks like 2 separate polyps at the top actually has only 1 mouth, and it is located where what appears to be the 2 polyps joining. it took it about an hour to eat a blood worm...

If the polyp is only 1/3" wide, how large is its mouth? It would seem to me that a polyp that is only 1/3" wide wouldn't have a mouth large enough to eat a bloodworm.

...no tentacles or other appendages at said mouths. just a clearing and a hole at the center.

R. florida and R. yuma both have raised mouths. The exterior wall of the mouth of a R. yuma has tentacles. The exterior wall of the mouth of a R. florida has no tentacles.

...hopefully the pic, even as bad as it is, can help narrow it down on what it is.

I'll see if I can get another opinion for you because my eyesight is not good and your picture is not all that great. Besides, your description is throwing me for a loop. I can't believe an LFS could get away with selling any Ricordea that is only 1/3" wide.

...these are the same people that said that a scooter blenny was an easy care blenny that was appropriate for a newby like me.

And, of course, it's NOT even a blenny. "Scooter blenny" is used for at least three or four different species of fish, none of which is a blenny. The two most common fish that are sold in the U.S. as "scooter blennies" are both dragonets.

[kevinpo]

Hello,
The picture is not large enough or clear enough to provide a species identification. It is most likely a Ricordia sp. mushroom. It doesn't really matter what species as the care as the care is similar. Both do well under a wide variety of conditions. It appears to have bleached a bit but will recover in time with proper lighting and water quality. Lighting should be at least high output fluorescent (T-5 HO's, PC, VHO's). In 6 months they should be 1.5" - 2" and return to their normal color.

HTH,
Kevin

[plantweanie]

no blue. i had to darken the picture overall to make it show up. the 'organism' is white (tentacles?) tipped in florescent orange.

maybe closer to 1/2 inch - very small just the same. this is across the top, the width of the polyp (s)

one of the polyps did eat a bloodworm. i watched it. the mouth is only a little smaller than the mouths i have on my candycane coral, if that helps.

no tentacles on the mouths. there is a gap between the tentacles and the mouth during feeding, making it very visible. they are not raised, at least not that i can see, unless eating. mouths not visible when not eating.

i have him sitting low, in low flow, per instructions. i am worried now that if this is not a ricordia, i am not taking care of it properly. unfortunately, as small as it is, the camera has to be right on top of it to get the pic, and the quality is not so good.

lee has already set me straight on the scooter issue. massive measures in place to keep him fed properly.

the quandry continues - what exactly do i have??? frustrating..... should i offer a reward for the proper id of this critter?

[plantweanie]

Hello,
The picture is not large enough or clear enough to provide a species identification. It is most likely a Ricordia sp. mushroom. It doesn't really matter what species as the care as the care is similar. Both do well under a wide variety of conditions. It appears to have bleached a bit but will recover in time with proper lighting and water quality. Lighting should be at least high output fluorescent (T-5 HO's, PC, VHO's). In 6 months they should be 1.5" - 2" and return to their normal color.

HTH,
Kevin

thanks for jumping in kevin,

i really want this critter identified, so please bear with me as i clarify.

the pic is bad but it is the best we have gotten over a few days since they all blur. i had to enlarge it, then adjust contrast to make it stand out through the glass. in person, it is pure white tentacles, with very vibrant florescent orange tips. even under whe day lights, the orange is visble across the room.

what part do you think is faded? the tentacles or the tips? are you thinking the tentacles themselves are not the true color?

[kevinpo]

Hello,
The bright orange is a common coloration for Ricordia species. Here are a couple of excellent articles you may find helpful or at least interesting reading. It is also possible that the natural color of the inner diameter is white (not bleached). In the slides you will see an example of one that is clear/white withe orange color at the tips by Robie Sayan (It's about the 4th picture).

ReefSlides - August 03 - That Rockin' Ricordea
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...002/invert.htm

Cheers,
Kevin