Are there different types of aiptasia?

[Theulli]

So I am used to occasionally nuking the brownish aiptasia that pop up in the tank, but over the weekend suddenly I have this guy growing from under a rock. The tentacles are white, and thicker than the whispy aiptasia tentacles. Is this just some other type of aiptasia or a different hitchhiker entirely?

 

[Theulli]

With flash

 

[ThRoewer]

There are different species that are usually called "Aiptasia", but the one we are usually dealing with is Exaiptasia pallida from the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean. Under different conditions these can look very different and the one in the picture above is what I would call the low light & high flow form. So I would say that's a "common" Aiptasia.
I also encountered a species of mini Aiptasia that were most definitely a different species and Berghia would not touch them.
And I would think there may be also Indo-Pacific equivalents to the Atlantic Exaiptasia pallida.
But the one you have there looks like the common Aiptasia.

 

[Reefing Madness]

• Brown Glass Anemone, Pale Anemone.
• Glass Anemone.
• Small Rock Anemone.
• Rock Anemone, Trumpet Anemone.
• Ball Anemone
• Strawberry Anemone

 

[ThRoewer]

• Brown Glass Anemone, Pale Anemone.
• Glass Anemone.
• Small Rock Anemone.
• Rock Anemone, Trumpet Anemone.
• Ball Anemone
• Strawberry Anemone

Different common names don't make different species.
And Ball Anemones (Pseudocorynactis sp.) and Strawberry Anemones (Corynactis californica)
are not even anemones but actually a form of mushroom coral:

Tidal Gardens - Psuedocorynactis Coral Care

Believe it or not Pseudocorynactis is actually a type of mushroom. Although a common name for this corallimorph is an orange ball anemone, the Pseudocorynactis isn’t actually an anemone at all.

www.tidalgardens.com

And they are so distinctly different from Aiptasia that it is near impossible to confuse the two.

 

[Theulli]

There are different species that are usually called "Aiptasia", but the one we are usually dealing with is Exaiptasia pallida from the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean. Under different conditions these can look very different and the one in the picture above is what I would call the low light & high flow form. So I would say that's a "common" Aiptasia.
I also encountered a species of mini Aiptasia that were most definitely a different species and Berghia would not touch them.
And I would think there may be also Indo-Pacific equivalents to the Atlantic Exaiptasia pallida.
But the one you have there looks like the common Aiptasia.

Excellent, I mostly wanted to make sure it wasn't something neat before I nuked it. Now its doom is sealed.

 

[Chemjab]

Different common names don't make different species.
And Ball Anemones (Pseudocorynactis sp.) and Strawberry Anemones (Corynactis californica)
are not even anemones but actually a form of mushroom coral:

Tidal Gardens - Psuedocorynactis Coral Care

Believe it or not Pseudocorynactis is actually a type of mushroom. Although a common name for this corallimorph is an orange ball anemone, the Pseudocorynactis isn’t actually an anemone at all.

www.tidalgardens.com

And they are so distinctly different from Aiptasia that it is near impossible to confuse the two.

Newb question here. Are all Aiptasia considered pests? Do they have any benefits? I'm asking because they are called Anemones.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Newb question here. Are all Aiptasia considered pests? Do they have any benefits? I'm asking because they are called Anemones.

Tax collectors are often called revenue generators also…