CnidIDF13

FAQs on Identification of Stinging-Celled Animals 13

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

Anemone? 07/20/2008 Dear WWM: <Kevin> My tank is a 72 gallon saltwater FOWLR but has a couple isolated corals. Single protein skimmer and several powerheads. Only four fish at present (a waste, for sure). (Also seems to have a fair amount of Cyano but that is a story for another day!) I have had extremely little change to the tank over the last three years, except for the introduction and subsequent death of a few small fish. <Mmmm> This very slow-growing presumed anemone is about 2 inches across. I haven't been able to find a photo of a similar specimen and I don't trust my LFS for this kind of info. It looks like none of the aiptasia I eradicated a few years ago, but I just wanted to be sure it is OK for my tank. Thank you for your help! Kevin <Looks more like a Zoanthid or Corallimorph to me: http://wetwebmedia.com/mushroomidfaqs.htm Bob Fenner>

Re: Anemone? 07/20/2008 Thanks a lot. I never would have figured it out. I'll research it to find out how to care for it. Kevin <Ahh, good. BobF>

Ghost shrimp/jewel anemone hlth/ID - 07/19/08 I can't seem to find an answer for my questions.#1 I bought some ghost shrimp from my LFS and I noticed they had some white dots on their body, is this normal or some sort of disease? <Mmm, likely more the latter... not communicable though. These sorts of markings show up in specimens that have been kept in poor conditions> #2 I have a large colony of jewel anemones <There are a few species that go by this name... Is this a Corynactis? Which do you have? and can't find any info on them any where can you tell me or give me a link to some information on them? Thanks for any help! <Bob Fenner>

Re: Ghost shrimp/jewel anemone 07/20/2008 Wow I didn't think I would even get a reply yet alone a reply so quick! So then it would be safe for my fuzzy dwarf lion to eat said ghost shrimp his health is of great importance to me. #2 yes my jewel anemones do resemble Corynactis and now I have their scientific name I'm finding a lot on them. I saw tanks full of them at Chicago's Shedd aquarium that's were I got the jewel name from. thank you very much. I'm sure your words of wisdom have prolonged the lives of many of our aquatic friends!!! <<Yes, the ghost shrimp are fine for the lionfish. Really glad you found the correct name for your anemone, all helps towards providing a better environment for them. Thanks for the follow-up, hope this helps. A Nixon>>

It looks and swims like a jellyfish, could that be? 6/19/08 Hi Crew, First I want to apologize for the quality of the picture. This thing is Tiny! Maybe I could send a better one in a few weeks when I get my new camera. I have 2 of these things swimming around in my molly tank. They seem happy, the mollies leave them alone. I should mention my mollies are kept in a full marine environment, with a salinity of 1.024-1.025. They're (the mollies) are kept in their own tank and not with my other marine fish and corals . The tank has been set up for over a year, with just a smidge of live rock that I've moved over from my marine tank. My daughter starts yelling about jellyfish in the tank about a week ago. Though I've seen these things many times a day, they swim like jellyfish, (flapping their dome tops up and down), they look like jellyfish,( domed top and a couple tentacles). That doesn't mean it's a jellyfish. Do you have a clue? <The picture is far to blurry to say much of anything sure. There are "pest" anemones that can "swim" like jellyfish. This would be my guess. I'm sorry I don't know the proper Latin name/classification for them. But I've seen them many times, and they do look a lot like jellyfish when they "swim."> I've tried to research them but I don't know what I'm looking for. Some sort of egg that hitched in on some rock I suppose. I'm not worried about if it was indeed a jelly, maybe they would keep the fish population under control in there. I do supply that tank with phytoplankton and keep the parameters in check as I do with my main saltwater tank (except for nitrates, the mollies don't care so I use tap water in that tank only for water changes). <I wouldn't worry too much about them unless they reach plague populations. I also would avoid touching them. Depending on a person's sensitivity, they might sting or cause a rash... as all hydroids/jellies and/or anemones/stinging celled animals have the potential.> Thanks for your help, Rochelle Lee
<De nada,
Sara M.>

Jelly... RMF.

Please identify this 6/1/08 HI, I was hoping you could identify something for me. It totally defies anything that I've read about and I'm stumped. Attached are two pictures one of the 'thing' open and one of it closed. It came attached on a piece of rock about 6 months ago. It only opens when the lights are out and has clear tentacles with balls on the ends that are sometimes white, when the lights come on it closes up and the outer "casing" is red, it also closes up like this when agitated (usually by shrimp feet) or when its gotten hold of food. It has stayed the same size since I got it, probably from lack of food (since I feed when the lights are on and its closed then). thanks! Sadie <Is a stony coral (Scleractinian) of some sort... perhaps a single polyp species Caryophylliid... Bob Fenner>

Please ID this Hi, all. I have searched endlessly on your site and can find nothing resembling what I have on a piece of rock in my soft coral tank. First off, This came on a piece of rock that had some mushrooms on it about mid March. These two creatures you see were hardly noticeable when i brought the Shrooms home. I did see it, however and cut the rock to have this as a separate specimen. <Good move> The larger of the two was about the size of a small Zoa when I noticed it. The other was hardly able to be seen. There are a total of 5 of these on the rock and they seem to be localized on this small piece. They do not have a mat and are not connected. <A good clue> The largest one that you see is about the size of a penny, now and the other is catching up. They remain open like you see them almost all the time and will catch mysis to eat. I have seen no sweeper tentacles and they have not physically moved themselves. I feel like I can rule out anemones. There is no hard skeleton that I can see, either. <Mmm, I do> Can you help? <Likely these recruits are Fungiids: http://wetwebmedia.com/fungiidae.htm perhaps Cycloseris sp.> Thank you
Jason
<Thank you for sharing, Bob Fenner>

Coral ID 03/30/2008 Hi everybody, This is Sam from India... <<Hello Sam, Andrew today>> Hope all are doing great out there! Well, I recently got this soft coral shipped, which was in the box for two nights, but has made it quite well, was a bit wounded, but seems fine now. I know that it is a leather coral, but I wanted to get a proper identification from the experts. Can you ID this coral's genus, species would be even better! As, then I will have better understanding of its needs. Please see the attached picture, the coral had come three days ago, when it came in it was totally shirked and dark in color, now it is a little larger and turgid. Basically, I don't know how it looks when the polyps are fully extended. So, knowing the species will help compare images for indication on health! Also, looking at the image what do you feel about its health and condition, how large does it extend it polyps? Also, how much time does and average soft coral take to molt? <<Ahh yes, a leather finger coral by the name of Lobophyton. Looks in a nice condition, and will look even better when it extends out>> Thanks in advanced! Cheers, Sam
<<Thanks for the question. A Nixon>>

Hairy Mushroom [not] 03/25/08 Hello, I purchased a large mushroom shown in the attached pictures some time ago, it is in my Red Sea Max. I assume it is a hairy mushroom but not exactly sure? <Oooo, no, not a Corallimorph. It is a leather coral, looks like a Sarcophyton sp.> As you can see it is budding (if this is the correct term) a new mushroom from its base which seems to be doing really well. As I understand it, it will move further out from the shade and grow full size. What I am not sure of is if it will detach itself <likely> and how long will it take? <It just depends on how fast it grows.> I was also thinking of propagating this 'fledgling' and I am not sure how long to leave it before I do this? <Leather corals are very easy to frag. You can do this at any time you like if you don't want to wait for it to detach on its own. Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/softcorpropfaqs.htm> You can also see that my Maroon Clown has 'moved in', it seems to act as if it were an anemone, is this normal? <This is quite common.> I do have a sand anemone (but it usually only opens up at night) which the clown ignores. Any ideas? <Not really. It's difficult to "force" these things. The only "trick" I've heard of that might work for helping anemones and clown fish "bond" is to put the two in a small bucket together for a little while (but not long enough for the water to spoil). I don't know if this works, but Rod Buehler says it can sometimes. You might also read through some of the info here on WWM, http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clwnfshanefaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnanemfaq2.htm ...and other pages.> Thanking you in advance for any help you can give. Colin
<De nada,
Sara M.>

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