Small aptasia with big foot?

[19Mateo83]

Any idea of the origin? Did you recently get the frag plug in the photo?

They are in my 14g that I started off in. Every frag I’ve had up until I got my 50 up has been in this tank. I have kept it going and kind of ignoring it except topping off evaporation. At this point it’s it’s own ecosystem of copapods, a little algae, snails and hermit. I also just descovered a new stomatella in there that I have no clue where it came from. I was planning on breaking it down and putting all the rock in the sump of my 50 until I saw these buggers. I feel this tank is just evolving new life on its own now.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Good luck! I'll try and help out!

Metridioidea - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

While I would usually avoid Wikipedia for this sort of thing, I did find a list of all the families in Metridioidea, though I'm pretty sure you already have a list

Anyway found another lookalike, probably not what they have but nemanthus nitidus looks similar, unfortunately its a gorgonian wrapper species so it's unlikely that that's what they have

And another unlikely candidate. Hermit crab nems seem to resemble what they have. Though the genus calliactis usually is found on the shell of hermit crabs. Any possibility that that's what it can be?

Sorry, bringing this here to keep the other thread on track - Yeah, I've got a list to work through.

Maybe Actinostella flosculifera?

This one isn't N. nitidus, A. flosculifera, or a Calliactis sp. - I still haven't figured out which species it is, but (as I mentioned in the other thread) I'm thinking it's in the Metridioidea superfamily.

Some of the closest nems that I have found so far that don't seem to be the species (ignoring location/water temperature at the moment):
-Bunodeopsis antilliensis - the foot's too warty because of the vesicles.
-Diadumene spp. (D. lineata, D. cincta, and D. franciscana) - the body and/or tentacles are wrong.
-Gonactinia prolifera - the foot's too small.
-Amphianthus dohrnii - the tentacles are wrong.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Sorry, bringing this here to keep the other thread on track - Yeah, I've got a list to work through.

This one isn't N. nitidus, A. flosculifera, or a Calliactis sp. - I still haven't figured out which species it is, but (as I mentioned in the other thread) I'm thinking it's in the Metridioidea superfamily.

Some of the closest nems that I have found so far that don't seem to be the species (ignoring location/water temperature at the moment):
-Bunodeopsis antilliensis - the foot's too warty because of the vesicles.
-Diadumene spp. (D. lineata, D. cincta, and D. franciscana) - the body and/or tentacles are wrong.
-Gonactinia prolifera - the foot's too small.
-Amphianthus dohrnii - the tentacles are wrong.

Have you ruled out sagartiogeton?

Also, after doing a reverse image search, it came up with diadumene lineata, and while the adults/large specimens don't resemble what they have at all, do you think it could be a juvenile of that species?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Have you ruled out sagartiogeton?

Haven't ruled out that genus/family (Sagartiidae) yet (it's hard to find good pics of a lot of the species though).

do you think it could be a juvenile of that species?

It hadn't occurred to me to check for juvenile coloration - it's possible, but I'd still guess it's not D. lineata.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Haven't ruled out that genus/family (Sagartiidae) yet (it's hard to find good pics of a lot of the species though).

It hadn't occurred to me to check for juvenile coloration - it's possible, but I'd still guess it's not D. lineata.

@ISpeakForTheSeas! Found something that mentions a wide spectrum of color variation on D. lineata, mentioning that they occur without striping, also on different color morphs and approximate regions where this species is found.

https://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/species_summary/52757

There is a long section about the introduction of this anemone in non-native regions, though after that there is the information I stated. Tell me what you think!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Tell me what you think!

I think it's possible but unlikely that it's the same nem, mostly due to the tentacles (the closest match I've found for the tentacles at the moment is Triactis producta, as it has the same patterning and shape [for lack of a better term]; but the body of that nem isn't a match due to the presence of pseudotentacles and some large vesicles).

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

@19Mateo83

you should take one specimen to a taxonomist, or a biology lab, see if you can get a conformation on the species

 

[19Mateo83]

@19Mateo83

you should take one specimen to a taxonomist, or a biology lab, see if you can get a conformation on the species

I just happen to live a couple miles away from the university of North Carolina at Charlotte. I may have to look into that. I’m certainly more curious than ever about it’s identity now that I’ve officially stumped the reef2reef community. I’m also curious as to how big they grow. Since they are in a tank where they can’t hurt anything I may start feeding them and seeing if these are just baby’s and if that’s the case, I want to see what an adult looks like.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I just happen to live a couple miles away from the university of North Carolina at Charlotte. I may have to look into that. I’m certainly more curious than ever about it’s identity now that I’ve officially stumped the reef2reef community. I’m also curious as to how big they grow. Since they are in a tank where they can’t hurt anything I may start feeding them and seeing if these are just baby’s and if that’s the case, I want to see what an adult looks like.

How quickly have they multiplied?

 

[19Mateo83]

How quickly have they multiplied?

Now that I know they are there I’ve been watching but I think I’m noticing a few here and there that I didn’t see initially. I’m also watching to see if I can see when and how they multiply.