Let's ID the Petco Anemone

[New&no clue]

I bought this very sad and very bleach anemone at Petco listed as an H. Magnifica. In the store, I was mildly suspicious but took it anyway. I've had him for two days in QT, and it seems to be improving, but my suspicions are also increasing. It was one of three "H. Magnifica" in the tank for reference. All three were well up the glass wall, the other two were very white, and their foots were quite pale. The tentacles are very short (could just be mad) and hard to tell in pictures but they have a faint purple dot on the tips.

@Eagle_Steve @OrionN @Nemguy123

 

[Rmckoy]

Pictures ?

 

[New&no clue]

Pictures ?

Added in

 

[bradleym]

Believe it or not, I'm starting to lean towards H. Magnifica now. The colors of the mouth and oral disc are what really have me rooting for you right now.

 

[Jdadams]

I believe it’s a small mag as well. I’d get it in cipro asap.

 

[New&no clue]

I believe it’s a small mag as well. I’d get it in cipro asap.

It’s in its second day of cipro in the QT

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I think that's a mag, but I know little about them. The color of the foot looks like one.

 

[New&no clue]

Okay, so how intense should the light be on a bleached anemone?

 

[damsels are not mean]

Okay, so how intense should the light be on a bleached anemone?

I would put it low in the tank and let it find its happy place.

 

[Spare time]

Could it be a sebae?

 

[New&no clue]

I would put it low in the tank and let it find its happy place.

I have it in QT right now doing Cipro , but I can change my light, and move the cup it’s in. So I’ll move it over to the edge to be in lower PAR.

 

[Beau_B]

Could it be a sebae?

So just as a “the more you know” thing. I’ve been researching a bit and it seems Sebae is a misnomer. The story goes that’s just a common name given to a group of anemones, specifically H. Crispa and H. Malu (which are as different from one another as H. Magnifica) when the distributor doesn’t know what they have. Sort of like saying Clownfish, when you could be talking about Percula, Tomato, Maroon, etc.

It appears most often “Sebae” label is given to H. Crispa, but who knows.

That’s all I’ve got. I can really appreciate why researchers et al prefer to use scientific names and ignore common.

 

[damsels are not mean]

So just as a “the more you know” thing. I’ve been researching a bit and it seems Sebae is a misnomer. The story goes that’s just a common name given to a group of anemones, specifically H. Crispa and H. Malu (which are as different from one another as H. Magnifica) when the distributor doesn’t know what they have. Sort of like saying Clownfish, when you could be talking about Percula, Tomato, Maroon, etc.

It appears most often “Sebae” label is given to H. Crispa, but who knows.

That’s all I’ve got. I can really appreciate why researchers et al prefer to use scientific names and ignore common.

looking up pictures of h. malu it seems to often be this color meaning this is not necessarily bleached. My advice to let it find its place is the same though.

 

[New&no clue]

100% agree once it goes into the DT it will pick where it wants to be, and how much light and flow it likes. My concern right now is getting it through QT.

It might not be bleached, but it is really made and shrunken, and I just want to see if there is something I can do to help, or if we’re in the practice patience stage.

 

[Rtaylor]

Hard to say from the pics. It could be a mag. Can you see any spots (verracue) under the oral disc? I’m kinda leaning towards bta with the current pics. Are there white striations around the mouth? Below are pics of my red footed mag showing the spots I mentioned. Mags also almost always have a few tentacles that fork like the other pic I added. I have a similar looking bta in terms of coloration, 3rd pic below.

 

[New&no clue]

Hard to say from the pics. It could be a mag. Can you see any spots (verracue) under the oral disc? I’m kinda leaning towards bta with the current pics. Are there white striations around the mouth? Below are pics of my red footed mag showing the spots I mentioned. Mags also almost always have a few tentacles that fork like the other pic I added. I have a similar looking bta in terms of coloration, 3rd pic below.

No, I don't see that on the foot. The foot has been the thing that caused me the most suspicion. However, I have never seen the foot fully inflated like your picture. It has always been pretty scrunchy. I have some pictures of around the mouth where it does look like white striations. As for forked tentacles, YES! It has tons of branching tentacles. That was actually another reason I thought it wasn't a Mag because my BTA has a ton of deformed tentacles.

 

[Rtaylor]

No, I don't see that on the foot. The foot has been the thing that caused me the most suspicion. However, I have never seen the foot fully inflated like your picture. It has always been pretty scrunchy. I have some pictures of around the mouth where it does look like white striations. As for forked tentacles, YES! It has tons of branching tentacles. That was actually another reason I thought it wasn't a Mag because my BTA has a ton of deformed tentacles.

Based on the white striations around the mouth, lack of visible verracue, and the purple tips, my guess is bta. Mags often have tips a different color, but the color extends a bit down the length of the tentacles. Also, that color combo matches a type of bta I often see at Petco. If you see the verracue once it inflates then you’ll know for sure.

 

[Spare time]

So just as a “the more you know” thing. I’ve been researching a bit and it seems Sebae is a misnomer. The story goes that’s just a common name given to a group of anemones, specifically H. Crispa and H. Malu (which are as different from one another as H. Magnifica) when the distributor doesn’t know what they have. Sort of like saying Clownfish, when you could be talking about Percula, Tomato, Maroon, etc.

It appears most often “Sebae” label is given to H. Crispa, but who knows.

That’s all I’ve got. I can really appreciate why researchers et al prefer to use scientific names and ignore common.

I was thinking of H. crispa

 

[Spare time]

Based on the white striations around the mouth, lack of visible verracue, and the purple tips, my guess is bta. Mags often have tips a different color, but the color extends a bit down the length of the tentacles. Also, that color combo matches a type of bta I often see at Petco. If you see the verracue once it inflates then you’ll know for sure.

I've seen bubbletips that look like this too

 

[Rtaylor]

I was thinking of H. crispa

Pretty sure it’s not h.crispa, they have a leathery foot with prominent verracue. Also I’ve never seen a sebae that fluoresces yellow/greenish like that , they can be yellowish in color. But it’s not really a fluorescent yellow. This foot looks smooth with no spots (although sometimes it’s hard to see the spots in pics if they are similar color as the foot).