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FAQs on Identification of Stinging-Celled Animals 22

Related Articles: Cnidarians, Water Flow, How Much is Enough,

Related FAQs: Cnidarian IDs 1, Cnidarian IDs 2, Cnidarian IDs 3, Cnidarians ID 4, Cnidarians ID 5, Cnidarians ID 6, Cnidarian ID 7, Cnidarian ID 8, Cnidarian ID 9, Cnidarian ID 10, Cnidarian ID 11, Cnidarian ID 12, Cnidarian ID 13, Cnidarian ID 14, Cnidarian ID 15, Cnidarian ID 16, Cnidarian ID 17, Cnidarian ID 18, Cnidarian ID 19, Cnidarian ID 20, Cnidarian ID 21, Cnidarian ID 23, Cnidarian ID 24, Cnidarian ID 25, Cnidarian ID 26, Cnidarian ID 27, Cnidarian ID 28, Cnidarian ID 28,  Cnidarian ID 29, Cnidarian ID 30, Cnidarian ID 31, & Anemone ID 1, Aiptasia ID 1, Stony Coral ID 1, Mushroom Identification, Soft Coral ID, Alcyoniid ID, Xeniid ID,

Coral ID 1/22/10
Good Day.
<Hello Derek>
I have gone to a few 'boards' with this ID question, but I have yet to get a satisfactory answer. I hope you can help!
<Hopefully.>
I purchased a piece of Idaho Grape Cap (Tyree) from a fellow reefer and he threw in this 'bonus' piece that he called a 'unidentified softy" (pls. see attached pic). I cannot for the life of me figure out what this is. It is on
a hard stalk, and the polyps come out like an encrusting Gorgonian or GPS...but when retracted it has a purple/white color.
Please help - I want to be sure of how to care for this little guy.
<I think you are on the right track thinking it is an encrusting Gorgonian and it appears to be a Briareum specie encrusting a dead coral skeleton. I have a growth of this myself and your coral is very much similar to mine. See attached photo I took for comparison. Bob may have a more accurate description and his input will show on the dailies. Bob, feel free to use my photo if you would like.>
Thanks,
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Derek L. Rush

Re: Coral ID 1/22/10
Thanks so much. Not only are ya'll a great service to all hobbyists but you're quick too!
<Yep, ya oughta see me run.:) James (Salty Dog)>
Derek

LR Hitchhiker ID -- 01/12/2010
Hello,
<Hello! JustinN here!>
I attached 2 pics of something I have growing on a live rock I purchased.
<I see this>
I searched it and it looks like it could be a mushroom?
<Indeed -- does appear to be a Corallimorph of some sort -- see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm>
Pretty cool. I was wondering if you knew what it was and if so is my 18" 17 watt fluorescent light enough to support it?
<Mmm, not likely, no. This is evidenced by how elongated these specimen are -- they are stretching for the (already inadequately strength) light.>
I will eventually be getting a better light but this is in the mean time.
Its a FOWLR tank 30 gal. Thanks.
<It should survive for some time with the lighting you have now -- it is clearly not completely bleached -- but it will likely never thrive under this lighting. They may survive longer with some meaty food provided occasionally, such as frozen Mysis shrimp. Good luck! -JustinN>

Need help identifying; Shrooms and Aiptasia, Oh, Marco's go -- 01/12/10
Hello,
<Hi.>
I attached 2 pics of something I have growing on a live rock I purchased. I searched it and it looks like it could be a mushroom?
<Yes'¦ are Corallimorphs also known as mushrooms. And in the first picture I also see some Aiptasia in the upper left background. These should be removed. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm >
pretty cool. I was wondering if you knew what it was and if so is my 18" 17 watt fluorescent light enough to support it?
<A little too dark in the long run. You can see the mushrooms have quite long 'stems''¦ That's their way to show you they'd appreciate more light.>
I will eventually be getting a better light but this is in the mean time.
<For some weeks it should be sufficient. Also see http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm >
Its a FOWLR tank 30 gal. Thanks.
<Welcome. Marco.>
re: need help identifying, & now SaraM! 01/12/10
yes their are 2 Aiptasia and 3 feather dusters.. I thought they looked kind of cool but you say I should remove them?
<Not the feather dusters, just the Aiptasia. -Sara M.>

Need help identifying; Shrooms and Aiptasia -- 01/13/10
Yes there are 2 Aiptasia and 3 Feather dusters.. I thought they looked kinda cool, but you say I should remove them?
<Yes, it's likely they'll multiply and if they touch your Corallimorphs, they'll sting them. Marco.>

Hitch-hiker anemone id -- 01/03/10
Hi Crew!
I've looked through a ton of info on your amazing site, but I've not managed to find a concrete ID of this anemone
<Mmm, does this animal have a solid "base?"... A corallite skeleton? It appears to... Not an Actinarian if so, but likely a Scleractinian... a stony coral. >
that's hitch-hiked into my new tank a couple of weeks ago on some live rock. The rock is apparently from Fiji.
The center of the anemone is predominantly black and white, and the tentacles are a translucent red, with clubbed tips. It's not moved since I first spotted in in there, apart from repositioning itself slightly to face downwards. It doesn't seem to like the light and to begin with would only come out when the lights were off.
<Mmm, another clue/input that leads/points me to the Stony...>
Now it stays just outside the face of the rock with the lights on, then stretches out 0.25" or so and out to full size when the lights are off. It's about 0.75" across with the lights on, maybe 1" with the lights off. There are six evenly spaced tentacles closest to the oral opening that stand out more than the others, especially when it is fully extended.
<Both groups are Hexacorallians... Discounts the likelihood of being a soft coral or other Octocorallian>
It's been suggested that it may be a majano anemone, but it doesn't seem to be quite like any pics of majanos that I've managed to find. It seems to be doing well in the new tank so far, after enduring the curing of the live rock and the trip from Fiji-LFS-my tank.
<Testimony to the quality of the LR and your good care>
Can you folks help me pin down what this is, and perhaps advise whether it's suitable to have in a tank with false percula clownfish?
<I would keep it in any case... don't know if the Clown will associate with it... likely will avoid if it is unsuitable>
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me, and thanks for providing such a valuable resource!
All the best,
Dan.
<Thank you for sending this along Dan. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Re: Hitch-hiker anemone id 1/3/10
Hi Bob,
Cheers for taking a look at this for me, much appreciated!
That it may be a coral rather than an anemone is something I hadn't even thought about..
The whole creature seems to be formed from soft tissue, as far down the base as I can see anyway. When threatened it will kinda clench, and when offered dried bloodworm (only thing I really had around to attempt direct feeding with) it pulls it quickly towards the oral opening and then completely retracts into the rock out of view.
I did mean to mention this in my first mail, but somehow missed it.
Once again, thanks for your time looking at this!
Cheers,
Dan.
<Time will tell Dan... which Cnidarian group this animal "belongs to"... My bet/guess is currently on a Stony/Scleractinian. Cheers, BobF>
Re: Hitch-hiker anemone id
Ahhh... Just looked at some LPS corals and some of them look exactly like it! Thank god for your help or I would probably be bumbling along in completely the wrong direction for weeks to come!
Now to try and track down the best way to try and care for it..
Thanks a million Bob, a thousand respects!
Cheers,
Dan.
<Thank you Dan. BobF>

Tricky ID question -- 12/14/09
Hi Crew,
I've been trying to get a ID on this little hitchhiker little over a week now without any success so I'm turning to you as my last chance. Instead of mailing photos I'm just linking them from a local forum where I tried to get an ID first.
http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/forumet/attachment.php?attachmentid=40687&d=1260203100
http://www.saltvattensguiden.se/forumet/attachment.php?attachmentid=40852&d=1260636838
The story is that after moving a piece of rock slightly I found these 2 polyps and my first thought was that I had found 2 Majano anemones
<Mmm, no>
but as I have never had Majano before I asked about them in a forum before removing them and some of the other members thought I should leave them for now as they didn't think they looked like Majano.
<Good>
I decided to leave them and turn the stone around so I could see them every time I went past the aquarium. When I turned the stone around I saw that they wasn't attached to stone but rather growing as a part of the stone.
<Yes. In both pics you can see a skeleton from what is likely another specimen>
In the second picture you can see remains of a dead polyp that I think is of the same type as the two living (I base that on studying the base of the polyp at night when it's retracted and comparing it to the base of the dead polyps).
<Yes>
Below the polyps in the second picture is another 5 remains of dead polyps that tells me it seems to grow in a branching way.
<Mmm, maybe. I suspect this is a solitary polyp species>
I don't think it's an anemone anymore and I'm guessing at some kind of LPS but I really have no clue so I'm looking for all help I can get on identifying this so I can give it the best possible place in my tank or if it's bad remove it before it gets bigger.
Thanks in advance & best regards,
Tony
<There are a few Scleractinian (stony coral) families that this might be.
See the Net, WWM re: Perhaps peruse here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/dendroidfaqs.htm
see the pix about midway down... and the families Rhizangiidae, Oculinidae.
Bob Fenner>

SV: Tricky ID question, Cnid., Scler. f's -- 12/14/09
Thanks for the link, the pictures half way down does look a bit like the once I have, mine is just much more brown. I have also found some pictures of Galaxea that looks a bit like the one I have but I think I'll have to wait with a better ID untill it grows bigger/gets more polyps.
<Mmm, color can/does change with local conditions, mainly light factors and foods... The physical aspects of corallites is most useful for identification>
This far I have a feeling it's a "day-active" coral filled with zooxanthellae as it completely deflates within 60 minutes after lights go out and it only starts inflating again when I turn lights on in the morning.
<This behavior/activity is also variable with the same "color" determinants as mentioned above>
I'll post again if I notice anything worth documenting :)
/Tony
<Thank you, BobF>

Re: Orange rock beauty, now... Anem. id? 11/05/09
Bob, thanks for your quick reply I was also wondering if you could help me identify this "anemone" here they call it anemona de terciopelo (velvet anemone) and is also from the Caribbean I'm also sending a picture for you to enjoy of my "baby" a foot long panther grouper chilling next to my pair of clown fish (no incident to regret yet and is been a time ).
<Yikes... am very surprised this bass hasn't gulped the Clowns down>
Saludos desde panama
<And this Anemone... is bizarre! I've never seen anything like it in the tropical West Atlantic... Would you please send a larger, more-resolved image along so I can in turn share it about? This may be a soft coral (I don't think it is an Actinarian), or even a Hydrozoan of some sort. Very new to me. Gracias usted. Bob Fenner>

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