What is this

[RosehipScapes]

Hi all,

I live in the UK. I have this anemone in my tank which I bought last year online, it was described as a ‘ultrarock flower anemone’. I didn’t question that until recently when I got another pair of rock flower anemones which look exactly like the ones you find online, leading me to think this is another species.

It’s at least doubled in size since I got it, and is about 10cm across. The tentacles glow at the tip. I can’t find a picture of a similar one online. The pharynx is almost always open, and I do feed it.

Recently a sailfin blenny and a red ruby dragonet disappeared. I think there could be other reasons for their disappearance, but I do wonder if this anemone might be more aggressive than I realise. As you can see, the yellow polyps stay clear of its tentacles.

 

[RosehipScapes]

Eep I thought I wrote anemone in the title but apparently didn’t!! Sorry everyone, mods if you can change please do.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@Eagle_Steve @bradleym @OrionN - any thoughts?

 

[bradleym]

It's definitely not a standard RFA. It looks like it has some other stinger of some kind around the edge, just below the tentacles. Sort of like a beadlet or hell fire anemone would have. Can you take a picture of the column/underside?

 

[bradleym]

Hi all,

I live in the UK. I have this anemone in my tank which I bought last year online, it was described as a ‘ultrarock flower anemone’. I didn’t question that until recently when I got another pair of rock flower anemones which look exactly like the ones you find online, leading me to think this is another species.

It’s at least doubled in size since I got it, and is about 10cm across. The tentacles glow at the tip. I can’t find a picture of a similar one online. The pharynx is almost always open, and I do feed it.

Recently a sailfin blenny and a red ruby dragonet disappeared. I think there could be other reasons for their disappearance, but I do wonder if this anemone might be more aggressive than I realise. As you can see, the yellow polyps stay clear of its tentacles.

Since it's not one typically found in stores, the odds that it is not fish friendly is decent.

 

[RosehipScapes]

It's definitely not a standard RFA. It looks like it has some other stinger of some kind around the edge, just below the tentacles. Sort of like a beadlet or hell fire anemone would have. Can you take a picture of the column/underside?

It’s wedged into a good-sized hole in the rock, it killed a Kenya tree to take the hole the day I got it. I’ll give it a poke and see if it closes enough to see more.
It does have some super of fine frilly fringe around the edge, like a different kind of tiny frilly tentacle.

Since it's not one typically found in stores, the odds that it is not fish friendly is decent.

That makes sense I guess I should try to get it out, most fish in the tank are quite small.

 

[RosehipScapes]

It’s mottled grey and finely knobby on the outside

 

[bradleym]

It looks very similar to a Borneman anemone, except for the smooth tentacles, and the other, almost fuzzy edge tentacles. If it is a close enough relative, it should get about double the current size and may split to reproduce every few months.

 

[OrionN]

It is not one of the clownfish hosting anemones. There are a lot of these anemones. Sorry I am not familiar with this species. But it is not a Rock Flower anemone or a Bornerman anemone.