Anemone ID? Another update. Anemone Relocated.

[TheReefGeek]

What would differentiate the quadricolor from the magnifica?

[OCDP]

Tony, you'd be perfectly suited to answer this one heh..

I know of only a couple differences.. I'll let another anemone pro out there have at it.

[Delphinus]

Well, Entacmaea quadricolor has 4 hoofs and a long tail with a bushy end. Long shaggy fur and two black beady eyes placed under some pointy horns. Heteractis magnifica on the other hand tends to have strong muscular back legs, sharp claws, a slightly tapered tail and very strong disposition to seek out heat registers to have a nap.


... Seriously, usually, there's no confusing the two, they're quite different. Yet sometimes you'll see these ones where they defy easy categorization. If it comes down to it, H. magnifica has verrucae arranged in rows along the column. E. quadricolor doesn't show verrucae along the column at all, although I think they might show some right at the top of the column.

http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/ebooks/intro.html

[TheReefGeek]

And verrucae are?

[Delphinus]

Sorry. Think of them as wart like structures that the anemone can use to adhere to substrate. From the link I provided: "Most host actinians have, in the upper part, longitudinal rows of small warts (verrucae; singular is verruca) to which particles of gravel may adhere; commonly these are pigmented differently from the rest of the column."

Here is a picture showing the verrucae of one of my carpets (Stichodactyla gigantea):


Offhand I do not have pictures of the verrucae of H. magnifica versus E. quadricolor, sorry, although a quick google search should yield plenty of results.

[TheReefGeek]

Great pic, thanks! I cleverly called them "spots" up to now.

How often and what do you feed your anemones? Have any trouble with your carpet eating small docile fishies like clown gobies or mandarines?

[Delphinus]

I do feed all my anemones. For the most part I just feed them mysis every couple of days. Amounts sort of vary based on the individual.

The two carpets I have right now are both S. gigantea and they have been gentle additions to the reef. In fact I had a mandarin who would routinely sleep under one of them. However S. haddoni is a different story, they can and will eat any fish who blunders into them, so caution is definitely advised.

Here is some more info about verrucae:

Verrucae: more or less ampullaccous, adhesive evaginations of the column, simple or more rarely compound, with modified ectoderm, without nematocysts in their central part. Rarely, as in Sagartia, there is no evagination, but the ectoderm shows same structure as that of the verrucae proper and is adhesive (suckers). Follow this link to find images of verrucae.

(From http://web.nhm.ku.edu/tol/glossary/intro.html ).

If you can understand any of that, you have my sympathies!!!

That site does have a great shot of the verrucae of Heteractis magnifica though, that I can't pass up the chance to post here: