Is this Red/Pink Mertensii Rare?

[CoralsAddiction]

I was in the Bay Area for the Labor Day weekend and decided to visit Violet Aquarium in San Jose. They had this beautiful red and pink Mertensii that I had to have. It has white stripes too.
Thought I’d post some photos and a video of it since there aren’t that many of them in the hobby.

 

[exnisstech]

Nice!

 

[MDAquatics]

beautiful piece!

 

[D-Nak]

Very cool! I've seen orange ones but never red. The white spots/splotches are sometimes stress related and may fade over time (this happens with haddoni more frequently). Once you've fully acclimated it, go ahead and let me know when I can pick it up, along with the green gig.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I was in the Bay Area for the Labor Day weekend and decided to visit Violet Aquarium in San Jose. They had this beautiful red and pink Mertensii that I had to have. It has white stripes too.
Thought I’d post some photos and a video of it since there aren’t that many of them in the hobby.

Amazing looking!

 

[argiBK]

So you’re the guy who bought it! It was on their WYSIWYG section for a hot second.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

So you’re the guy who bought it! It was on their WYSIWYG section for a hot second.

Yes they put it on there for me to buy it. It wasn’t available for online purchase. I was going to have the shop ship the nem to me initially.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

My gig came from them as well. As did all 3 of my tangs and a blue jaw trigger. Lol

 

[argiBK]

Yes they put it on there for me to buy it. It wasn’t available for online purchase. I was going to have the shop ship the nem to me initially.

It’s a gorgeous specimen. I’ve never seen a Mertensii in anything outside of brown with orange tips.

They have gigs as well? Interesting.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

They have gigs as well? Interesting.

They do from time to time. I believe the current mertensii listed on their site is orange. I saw it when I picked mine up.

 

[jamie1210]

Corals anonymous has something similar to yours. They're calling it a "pink Haitian Carpet anemone." It looks awfully like yours. What do you think?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Corals anonymous has something similar to yours. They're calling it a "pink Haitian Carpet anemone." It looks awfully like yours. What do you think?

It’s hard not to notice the similarities

 

[D-Nak]

If it truly is Haitian, I'm fearful that it's a S. helianthus. If so, they are not a clownfish hosting species and should be avoided if you have clownfish. In the photo there are obviously clownfish in the anemone, but that doesn't mean that they won't be eaten.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

If it truly is Haitian, I'm fearful that it's a S. helianthus. If so, they are not a clownfish hosting species and should be avoided if you have clownfish. In the photo there are obviously clownfish in the anemone, but that doesn't mean that they won't be eaten.

I was thinking the same thing about the name of the anemone. If it reflects the region it came from then it’s not a true hosting anemone. But I did also looked at some Helianthus photos and its tentacles do appear a little longer

 

[jamie1210]

I was thinking the same thing about the name of the anemone. If it reflects the region it came from then it’s not a true hosting anemone. But I did also looked at some Helianthus photos and its tentacles do appear a little longer

Yeah, the tentacle length is what's throwing me off. (Then again, they could shortened due to stress). But the stripes are so prominent, like a Merten's. I would ask the vendor for pics of the verrucae, but IME, they don't response until after the anemone sells

 

[D-Nak]

I agree that it looks more like a mertensii. Helianthus tend to have more uniform tentacle placement on the disk. Merts and gigs have defined rows, much like we see in the photo.

 

[Rtaylor]

I was thinking the same thing about the name of the anemone. If it reflects the region it came from then it’s not a true hosting anemone. But I did also looked at some Helianthus photos and its tentacles do appear a little longer

A mertens is super easy to identify. Just look at the foot, if it’s a mertens you’ll see purple verracue the whole length of the foot

 

[CoralsAddiction]

My pair of true percs flat out rejected a pair of black ice clowns. I was hoping the black ice pair would go into the Mertensii while the percs stayed in the gig. After 10 mins of trying it was a clear fail.
My local petco has some Amphiprion akallopisos listed as orange skunks (Sandaracinos). I might try a single and see if it goes to Mertensii, its natural host in the wild.

 

[Shark Wu]

very nice!!!

 

[MartinM]

My gig came from them as well. As did all 3 of my tangs and a blue jaw trigger. Lol

Can I ask if those pink Zoos have a name? I have a massive colony of them but I don't know if they have a 'name' or not