Maybe it's S. mertensii

[Delphinus]

Had this carpet since May 2004. I've been "100% certain" up until today that it is Stichodactyla gigantea. Today I just noticed it do something that I've never noticed it do before that makes me question my ID and now I wonder if it could be S. mertensii. The longer tentacles surrounding the mouth is a classic merten's feature. (And if it IS a merten's ... hoo boy do I have a problem down the road, in terms of diameter they are the largest hosting species of anemones ... Forget the ritteri, these get BIGGER!)

Funny that it's never done this before.

At the moment it is a nice sort-of compact 8" in diameter.







For reference, here are some older pictures:
When it was first purchased (May '04):

And after about a month (June '04):

[AJ_77]

haha, you got a 3-ft anemone.

[Delphinus]

I posted the same pics on RC in the anemone forum and the consensus over there is that it's still S. gigantea. Not that a merten's carpet wouldn't be "très cool" but yeah, I .. um... don't really want a 3ft anemone. One 2 footer is challenge enough.

I dunno if anyone cares as much about this sort of thing as I do, but in case you're interested, here's the thread over at RC:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=686511

So anyhow, apparently a healthy S. gigantea exhibits the same longer-tentacles near the mouth as does S. mertensii. I never knew that. Always something new and exciting to learn in this hobby!

[muck]

hows that new tank coming Tony..??

[Delphinus]

Slowly. There's water in it. I still have some plumbing to finish to get the sump online. Unfortunately the Seio 1500 is not nearly going to be enough flow So I have to look at other options. But I am hoping to have something to show off within another week or two.