Anemone ID help!

[Kalic]

I need help identifying what type of anemone I have. I'm really new to the saltwater thing, I've only had freshwater in the past. I'm living in Japan, which makes it even more difficult to be certain as to what type of fish I'm purchasing. I've had him for about a month now and yes, he came white like that...I had no idea this was bad when I bought him.
anemone picture by Kalic_bucket - Photobucket

[Kalic]

awesome...I've discovered an unknown species of anemone lol

[DarthClownfish]

Looks an awful lot like a sebae. They like being on the sand, and that color is very common for them. Sebaes that are a tint of white can still have their zoxantellae. They need very bright light, and are one of the most difficult inverts to keep. It will take 5 or 6 months for it to settle in before you know how well it will do.

[zhenya]

Although it is possible that this is indeed a Heteractis crispa, also called sebae anemone, it would be hard to say looking at the picture you provided.
Here's a link to an online book about anemone, hopefully it can help you identify it.
Anemone fishes and their host sea anemones

[Ninong]

It would help if we knew where it was collected. Was it collected in Okinawa?

[Kalic]

Yes, it was collected in Okinawa and he's managed to become almost twice that size since the picture was taken. Thanks for the link but what was wrong with my picture? It looks clear to me.

[Ninong]

Yes, it was collected in Okinawa and he's managed to become almost twice that size since the picture was taken. Thanks for the link but what was wrong with my picture? It looks clear to me.

What zhenya meant is that your picture is not nearly good enough, sharp enough, or close enough for identification purposes. And one picture is rarely enough. You would need sharp, in-focus macro shots of the oral disk, the tentacles and the column. Really sharp, really close macro shots.

Anyway, it's not a sebae anemone (Heteractis crispa), I can tell that much. I'm not the best one to attempt an anemone ID from a single photo because my eyesight isn't all that good.

[Ninong]

How large is your anemone, fully expanded?

How long are the individual tentacles?

Can you describe the pattern of the verrucae (warts) on the column?

Are the tentacles very sticky to the touch, or not?

[Kalic]

Well I am definitely not a professional photographer...I had no idea the identification process was so intense! I looked at pictures of sebae tho and he looks a lot like some of them. I would say my anemone is about 8 in. when fully expanded, the tentacles are probably about an inch (some of them anyway), the tentacles are not sticky at all and I don't see any verrucae or wart-like things on the column at all.

[Ninong]

I had no idea the identification process was so intense!

It is if you're trying to get a reasonably good identification on something. Fortunately, in the case of the clownfish-hosting sea amenomes, we can do this by the process of elimination even without any photograph at all.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of other species of anemones besides the ten clownfish-hosting ones. Most LFS over here usually carry only the clownfish-hosting anemones, except for some of the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean flower anemones and Condylactis gigantea anemones that are often available

Do you remember if the vendor called it by any particular name when you purchased it?

I looked at pictures of sebae tho and he looks a lot like some of them.

Photos can be deceiving, which is why I asked you the particular questions that I did. The anemone in your photo does not appear to be a Sebae anemone (Heteractis crispa) to me but that doesn't mean much because I have poor eyesight.

I would say my anemone is about 8 in. when fully expanded, the tentacles are probably about an inch (some of them anyway), the tentacles are not sticky at all and I don't see any verrucae or wart-like things on the column at all.

Now we can begin the process of elimination based on your answers. Of the ten clownfish-hosting sea anemones, only one species has no verrucae at all and that's Entacmaea quadricolor. All of the other nine have verrucae on the column. Your anemone does not appear to be Entacmaea quadricolor.

The Sebae anemone (H. crispa) has "prominent adhesive verrucae." It's tentacles are typically 100 mm (4") long. Your anemone has no verrucae and its tentacles are only 25 mm (1") long.

In its natural habitat H. crispa is a sand-dwelling anemone, burying its column completely in sediment so that only the oral disc lies at the surface. Is that black sand in your tank? I can't tell from the picture, but is the column buried in the sand? It is sometimes found with it's "pedal disc attached to branching coral" but it is usually found buried in the sediment.

Here are the defining characters for H. crispa. "Defining" means that all of those characters are always present on all specimens. Obviously very small anemones will not have tentacles as long as larger specimens. However, the lack of "prominent adhesive verrucae" and the fact that the tentacles on your anemone are only 1" long seems to rule out H. crispa. Also, the tentacles on your anemone are definitely not "sinuous" and they do not appear to be "evenly tapered to point."

Diagnostic field characters Tentacles long (typically to 100 mm), sinuous, evenly tapered to point, often tipped mauve or blue, rarely yellow or green. Oral disc widely flared, may exceed 500 mm diameter, but commonly 200 mm. Column gray in colour, leathery in texture, with prominent adhesive verrucae; lower part rarely mottled with yellow. Column buried in sediment so oral disc lies at surface of sediment, or pedal disc attached to branching coral.

Here is a picture of H. crispa:

P.S. -- Another point worth remembering is that whenever you google images of an amemone, you're lucky if two-thirds of the images are actually of the anemone you googled. I just googled both "Sebae anemone" and "Heteractis crispa" and I was amazed at how many of the photos were of other species.

[Ninong]

I think I have found some pictures that will definitely help you decide one way or the other if your anemone might be H. crispa.

Look at these photos. Pay particular attention to the prominent sticky verrucae on the column. That is a defining character.

[DarthClownfish]

Ninong,

I don't think tentacle length is accurate in ID'ing a sebase, for two reasons. One is that a stressed seabe doesn't always inflate, and secone is that they are often in ill health and have very short tentacles in an LFS, often under .5" IME. I am also not ruling out H. malu, as that is also commonly called a seabae. That does look like sand to my eyesight, and it is perched next to a rock in the sand. The off-white color looks very seabae-ish to me, although to be honest it does not look healthy and id'ing an unhealthy anemone is iffy. But the placement in the tank lends me to think that as much as anything

[Ninong]

I am also not ruling out H. malu, as that is also commonly called a seabae.

You're the only one who is calling it a Sebae anemone and I assumed that you meant Heteractis crispa. Did you actually mean H. malu? Those two species don't look anything alike and I just assumed you meant H. crispa. Are you saying that you think that it is either H. crispa or H. malu???

In any case, it can't be either H. crispa or H. malu if it doesn't have adhesive verrucae on its column. H. malu has longitudinal rows of adhesive verrucae. I tried to google for images of "Heteractis malu" and 95% of what I got was NOT H. malu. Drs. Foster & Smith does have a picture of H. malu here.

[Ninong]

It's going to be hard to ID his anemone without a good photo of the oral disc. The other point is that we are relying on his description that it has no adhesive verrucae on the column. That's extremely important. It can't be any of the ten clownfish-hosting sea anemones if that description is accurate because it's obviously not E. quadricolor, the only one of the ten without verrucae. At least it doesn't look like an E-quad to me.

We don't have to worry about the tentacles or any other characters if the lack of verrucae on the column is correct. And for it to be either H. crispa or H. malu, the verrucae must be adhesive.



______________________________________________

Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate. -- William of Ockham. ( He never wrote "Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem." Besides, if they wanted to make it closer to what he actually did write, they should have said "Entities should not be multiplied without necessity" -- Entia non sunt multiplicanda sine necessitate -- instead of "Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity. That would make it closer to what he actually did write, which is Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate. My personal translation of that would be "More should not be disclosed without necessity" but it is usually translated as either "Plurality should not be posited without necessity" or "Entities should not be posited without necessity," both of which make the true meaning much clearer.

[DarthClownfish]

Thanks Ninong. I was just asking so I understood. I do not say that a malu is a sebae, but I have seen them also called sebaes in the trade. I don't see enough of this column to tell

It's been a long time since HS Latin; but I gotta say that that was pretty rude to be called out on my sig in that manner.

Quote the Stanfford Encyclopedia on Philosophy "Still, Ockham's “nominalism,” in both the first and the second of the above senses, is often viewed as derived from a common source: an underlying concern for ontological parsimony. This is summed up in the famous slogan known as “Ockham's Razor,” often expressed as “Don't multiply entities beyond necessity.”

[TimH07]

ninong-pidea... i'd register.

[Ninong]

It's been a long time since HS Latin; but I gotta say that that was pretty rude to be called out on my sig in that manner.

Don't be so touchy, I was just joking.

[Kalic]

Ok so first off my anemone looks nothing like those in the links. You're right about having to rely on my description of no verrucae on the column because I'm only going by sight...I haven't turned him over because I'd rather not add any more stress. If the vendor did say a particular name when I purchased it I didn't understand because I'm not fluent in Japanese.
Darthclownfish, you said my anemone looks unhealthy. Any particular reasons for it looking unhealthy? I find it funny that everyone keeps saying it's practically impossible to identify the anemone from my picture but you can tell that it's unhealthy. I would have to disagree just for the simple fact that I'm around it and take care of it everyday.
Ninong-I'm a girl.
Are you guys really arguing about latin? If we can't make a positive ID on the anemone I'm sure it will manage just fine anyway.

[Kalic]

Pictures by Kalic_bucket - Photobucket
I'm pretty sure these 2 new pictures aren't any better but I thought I would try and give it one more shot. Oh and the first picture was taken about a month ago. The anemone was extremely white when I first got him but now he's taken on a brownish tint...I was told this is a good thing...
I've seen many pictures like this and I feel like mine looks a lot like them without the colored tips.
http://z.about.com/d/saltaquarium/1/...iclown_400.JPG

[Ninong]

Ninong-I'm a girl.

Oops!

You were posting with an American accent and I figured you were in the military and most people in the military are guys. Sorry.