Anemone Help

[Christina]

I have had a sebae for about 6 weeks. It is whitish/ green with purple tips. This morning, I was confussed, when it spit back out the scallop I fed it, and then spit out this small ball of what looked like little legs. They looked like white grains of rice with a purple spot on the end. I was sure it was dying, but the anemone itself, looks fine. I have been watching it all day, and the little grains of rice seem to be moving! Stretching out, almost waving. Im lost. My water has been great, the anemone is sticky, and petal looks great and strong. Could it have been "pregnant"? Or am I loosing my mind. LOL Anyone heard of this?

Christina

[twisted]

not sure what it spit out,but it wsnt pregnant...they multiply by splitting...im sure someone will chime in. a pic and water params would help. also tank age....

[Christina]

Well, When I did a little research, I found this: The H. crispa typically do not breed in captivity. Anemones in general can multiply by sexual and asexual means. One way is using fission, which is when they actually split in half from the foot or mouth to form a clone, although the clone is its own animal, similar to twins. They will also reproduce using male and female sex glands or find another anemone of the opposite sex. This results in the production of ciliated planula larvae. This planula will eventually fall to the sea floor, develop a pedal disk, then begin to grow into a new anemone.
From here Sebae Anemone, Leathery Sea Anemone, Sea Anemone Facts and Sea Anemone Pictures of Heteractis crispa not sure how creditable it is, but I read it.

I am working on pictures. They are too big to upload here, the uploader says.

My water is 78 degrees, SG 1.025, Nitrates 10 ppm Ammonia, 0 nitrites. PH is 8.2, and my tank is 10 months old

The little wiggly white "things" have wiggled into creavaces in the live rock. Still moving.

Christina

[Christina]

Thanks anyway, Im sure it is dying now, and have moved it into my hospital tank, so it can go in peace without taking the rest of my tank with it......

Christina

[leebca]

Christina,

This was posted in the Fish Aquarium Forum. I've moved it to the Reef Forum where they know more and talk more, about invertebrates.

Good luck!

[Ninong]

Well, When I did a little research, I found this: The H. crispa typically do not breed in captivity. Anemones in general can multiply by sexual and asexual means. One way is using fission, which is when they actually split in half from the foot or mouth to form a clone, although the clone is its own animal, similar to twins. They will also reproduce using male and female sex glands or find another anemone of the opposite sex. This results in the production of ciliated planula larvae. This planula will eventually fall to the sea floor, develop a pedal disk, then begin to grow into a new anemone.
From here Sebae Anemone, Leathery Sea Anemone, Sea Anemone Facts and Sea Anemone Pictures of Heteractis crispa not sure how creditable it is, but I read it.

I am working on pictures. They are too big to upload here, the uploader says.

My water is 78 degrees, SG 1.025, Nitrates 10 ppm Ammonia, 0 nitrites. PH is 8.2, and my tank is 10 months old

The little wiggly white "things" have wiggled into creavaces in the live rock. Still moving.

Christina

Christina,

Sorry to hear of your problems. I read through that article you linked and it is very good, providing very good advice. The only thing I might point out is that the author says it can grow to 12". That's typical of most H. crispa in home aquariums; however, this anemone can grow to more than 40" in its natural habitat. Since sea anemones do not experience senescence, they die only from predation or some other form of trauma. They don't die of old age. We really don't know how old they can get but the really large ones are probably more than 200 years old.

H. crispa does not usually breed in captivity, unlike Entacmaea quadricolor which breeds easily in captivity via cloning. I think what you witnessed was your anemone reproducing as a direct result of stress. When these animals feel that they are about to die, they will spawn as a way to ensure the survival of the species.

In your anemone's case, fertilization was obviously internal and the mature larvae were expelled because the animal felt it was dying. It had probably been fertilized by male gametes before you purchased it. I'm not sure if all anemones reproduce via internal fertilization. They all reproduce sexually, I'm just not sure if all of them do it with internal fertilization. You would have to look that up if you're really interested. Another point I'm not sure about right now is whether all of them have separate sexes or not. I think some of them do and some of them don't. In other words, I think some of they may contain both male and female gonads.

I would like to quote some of what the author wrote in that article you linked so that it will be in this thread, in case the link goes dead at some point in the future.

"In nature the Sebae Anemone has been found as host to 14 different species of clownfish."

I will add in the names of those 14 different species of clownfishes: A. akindynos, A. bicinctus, A. chrysopterus, A. clarkii, A. ephippium, A. latezonatus, A. leucokranos, A. melanopus, A. omanensis, A. percula, A. perideraion, A. polymnus, A. sandaracinos, A. tricinctus.

"This anemone often doesn't do well in captivity, so it's recommended that they only be attempted by advanced aquarists."

"If a healthy specimen is obtained it can do well in captivity, but Sebae Anemones are known to suffer from shipping stress and will often release their zooxanthellae in transport. Sometimes, to enhance their appeal, captive specimens are bleached out so they are also white in color. If they are white, their chances of survival are slim."

"The Sebae Anemone can be difficult to care for since they do have high lighting needs and must be in a large enough aquarium to satisfy their ultimate size. Putting an anemone in a new tank will result in failure. The tank should be at least 1 year old and stable before adding your new H. crispa."

"Sebae Anemones suffer from shipping stress and will need dedicated care to become established in the aquarium. They need appropriate water movement and regular feeding. In fact, a lack of feeding is thought to be the second biggest reason for their demise in captivity."

"When choosing your Sebae Anemone, make sure the color is good, their mouth is not gaping open, and their foot and tentacles are sticky to the touch. Also, they should be attached to something and make sure there is no damage to the foot area, often a result of pulling the anemone off its surface."

"The H. crispa perish from any type of tissue damage.To take an H. crispa anemone from another aquarium, use a hair dryer. Blow at the foot of the anemone from the outside of the tank and the heat will make it pull away." (He's talking about an anemone that is attached to the glass of the tank.)

"If it's attached to a rock, ideally you can simply purchase the rock as well. If you cannot purchase the rock then use ice cubes in a zip-lock bag and gently rub the foot all around until it releases. This may take a few minutes, but it is the most reliable way of getting your anemone to release. Don't allow the fresh water of the ice cubes to touch the foot directly as this can cause tissue damage."

You can go back to that article for additional information, I just wanted to copy some of it that is very important for new hobbyists to understand. I have seen so many new reefkeeping hobbyists post pictures of their brand new white sebae anemone that they just put in their tank that is only a few weeks old. Those anemones all die. It's a shame that the LFS people are so irresponsible but that's the way it is. I have even seen some vendors' websites that list "white" as one of the colors for sebae anemones. One website even advertises "rare white sebae anemones." That's self-serving and completely untrue. White is not a natural color.

[Ninong]

Here is a photo of zhenya's Heteractis crispa. As you can see there is a lot of coloration in the tentacles from the zooxanthellae. Also, you can clearly see the sticky verrucae on its column. So this photo is ideal for identification purposes.



Here's a later picture of zhenya's sebae anemone. As you can see, it has picked up even more coloration in its tentacles.


And, in the picture that is attached to the opening post in this thread, you can see what a typical, bleached-out white sebae anemone looks like. That one was sold as a BTA but it's really a sebae anemone.