Magnifica anemone with long stringy tentacles

[djf91]

I’ve had my purple tipped Magnifica for probly coming up on 8 months now. He has had a few wandering spurts….usually when I change the flow but otherwise seems to be very healthy. I believe he’s also grown a bit too in the time I’ve had him. The only thing that seems a bit off though is how long and stringy the tentacles have become. He arrived at my tank with the typical short stubby tentacles you see with Mags but over time they have become 3-4 inches long and quite thin. He sits about 3 inches underneath the waters surface underneath a 250 watt Radium metal halide and gets pretty decent flow from an mp60 located 12 inches away. The only thing a little out of whack is the nitrates and phosphates which became elevated when I was battling Dino’s. The tank has been slightly unstable as I battled GHA and then Dino’s on the sand but corals weren’t too effected by that and now that the uglies are all gone everything seems to be taking off in growth. I have started to bring NO3 and PO4 down now.

Does anybody know what causes this in Mags? I know it happens in bubble tips with no real understanding why.

Thanks!

 

[D-Nak]

Nope. It's as you described with BTAs--sometimes they have long tentacles and other times they're nicely bubbled. With mags sometimes they're longer and more pointy, other times they are shorter and have a blunt tip.

 

[j.falk]

How do you know the anemone is a "he"? Is there a way to differentiate the sex of them?

 

[sprungson]

I think long tentacles means the nem is healthy

 

[djf91]

I think long tentacles means the nem is healthy

The majority of pictures of Magnificas you see in the wild show anemones with the characteristic shorter stubby tentacles.

 

[sprungson]

The majority of pictures of Magnificas you see in the wild show anemones with the characteristic shorter stubby tentacles.

I see a variety of tentacle lengths on the web. Yours looks good though.

 

[xiongsy]

Interesting question and interested to know as well. Following.

 

[djf91]

I see a variety of tentacle lengths on the web. Yours looks good though.

I agree, I think he’s healthy. Just hoping maybe one day he’ll get that characteristic look to him. The tank is still young relatively, and nutrients are still a bit elevated.

Something still tells me that it is a reaction to the environment, whether that be water parameters, flow, or lighting.

Here are some examples of what I’ve seen for them:

 

[djf91]

I have seen a couple of dive videos on YouTube that show magnificas with similar tentacles to mine. These appear to be getting absolutely pounded with flow.

 

[djf91]

@MantisReef seems to have one of these more holotype looking Mags.

 

[djf91]

Any thoughts on the matter @OrionN ?

 

[OrionN]

I do think that there are at least two subtype or sub species of H. magnifica. One sub-type with short, blunted tips that often came from Africa region. Then there is the usual type that is more similar to the ones Dr. Mac have for sale right now, on 4/17/2023. It would be interesting to do DNA sequences and see the different between these two sub-types.
These are the typical of Magnifica from Africa. They seem to have more Red column also.

This is more typical of Indo-Pacific magnifica:
This one is splitting here:

 

[xiongsy]

I do think that there are at least two subtype or sub species of H. magnifica. One sub-type with short, blunted tips that often came from Africa region. Then there is the usual type that is more similar to the ones Dr. Mac have for sale right now, on 4/17/2023. It would be interesting to do DNA sequences and see the different between these two sub-types.
These are the typical of Magnifica from Africa. They seem to have more Red column also.

This is more typical of Indo-Pacific magnifica:
This one is splitting here:

That's very interesting and wonder if this has been confirmed in other discussions.

A quick look shows this Africa Mag also has long stringy tentacles: Africa Mag For Sale