Anemone Identification - Sebae? 12/2/10
Hello, and thank you in advance. You have been of help for me in the past, and I want to thank you all for the time you donate to help others, such as myself.
Your site has been a huge resource and has been so helpful.
<Very glad that we have helped you>
I purchased this anemone for a very big discount at my pet store. He had been there two months. He was so white, he looked like glass...see-through. His size initially, was about 1.5" across and he was flat, without much of an extension where his tentacles are. The petstore helper said that he had no idea what
it was, but it had arrived as a Sebae, but had not had a good time...he discounted it for $10 if I wanted it, and I took the thing home.
Well, he has grown, and his coloration is increasing, slowly, and I have had him about 3 months. He is now a light pinkish purple, with bright blue tips.
<I see this... unusual coloring>
I would like to see his tentacles get longer, but they don't seem to and they don't seem to be full as the bubble tipped anemone I have had in another system.
This little thing is about 4" across, maybe 5", now and it is not white anymore,
but it's still not dark, either.
<Will likely continue to change, intensify/darken with time>
My system is under 250w HQI 20k lighting. He is approximately 1 foot from that bulb, and he is also given T5 lighting, as a supplement, only the actinics, as I need to purchase new 14k t5ho bulbs for the other two, however it is helping...not as fast as I'd like to see it, but he looks improved.
I don't have any pictures of when he arrived, however, I have some photos I snapped today which I'd like your opinion on.
I have been through your entire site. I read all the differences I could find between the H. Crispa and H. Malu. I still can't identify him properly and in order to get him the right clownfish, I'd like to have an idea what type I should be searching out...I don't particularly like the Clarkii, so I am hopeful he can accept other types.
<Yes, can>
I was thinking of a skunk pair...but let's see what you determine him to be, and go from there.
<I do think this is a Heteractis crispa, a "Sebae" as you state>
His tips aren't pink, they are blue.
<At least they are "dotted" at the tips; a definitive characteristic>
His coloration is a very light lavenderish-tan,
<As I say, strange to me>
and he lives on top of the reef, and has finally adjusted to the lighting after all this time, just this month. His hiding days are gone, thank goodness. He, at first, soaked up light, and then went into the reef and I
was afraid he had died, but he came out earlier this month and continues eating Krill and Mysis Shrimp, and he is now up near the light, soaking and enjoying it.
<Good>
I see him spread out more. My Maroon ignores him, although she swims over and looks...she prefers my frogspawn over him, therefore I am pretty sure it's a Sebae, but I really value your opinion.
Thank you again, and I hope that you can help me identify him.
Photo #1 is the anemone from the top of the tank, showing his coloration, because the flash bleaches him out somewhat.
<Ah yes>
Photo #2 is from the side of the tank and yes, I see the algae behind him...I am picking it out soon as I get this photo out to you! Lol. :)
Renee
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re I need some information for an Anemone ID - Bob Fenner Referral 1/31/11
Here is the information and my note from the person you referred me to.
Her answer is included below as well as my letter to her regarding my H. Crispa.
<Okay! Thank you and Daphne (hello!). BobF>
Thank you Bob for your help and I am sad that I can never possibly provide the best home for him, but I am doing what I can. I wish we weren't in California and/or the sea it came from was near so I could let it go. It's so sad to see these beautiful creatures dying so frequently in well-meaning hobbyist homes. I
think if everyone stopped buying them, they'd stop shipping them, but there's little/no chance of that happening.
I rescued it and it is alive and surviving. Maybe someday it will have longer tentacles. I am adding some 10k T5HO to the system today. Maybe this will give it a bit more light. Just to survive, this guy wants 2 krill every morning, super bright light, absolutely crystal clean water without any readings and water changes every 7 days like clockwork. Without those, he looks pekid.
I will do my best for it. I hope it survives. :)
Thank you and WWM for all the help,
Renee
From: Daphne Fautin
Subject: Re: I need some information for an Anemone ID - Bob Fenner Referral 1/31/11
Dear Renee,
Knowing precisely what species of anemone you have is probably unimportant in being able to care for it properly. Of course, I am not an aquarist -- I am a field biologist and a taxonomist of sea anemones. I prefer to see the animals where they live so I can understand how they live. No matter how much we
try to emulate that environment in captivity, we will fall short in some way because we do not have all the species, all the chemicals, all the water motion, all the weather, etc. in our tanks.
It seems to me that many of the shallow tropical anemones that host Clownfishes live in pretty much the same types of habitats, and so probably eat pretty much the same thing and have similar physical requirements.
As to what you have, what is it about the animal that Bob Fenner make your possible identification of it as *Heteractis crispa* wrong? The tentacles are patterned, which is atypical, but specimens from the Red Sea may have such patterning.
<<Mmm, I strongly doubt this animal was harvested from the RS. VERY few come to the west from there. RMF>>
The main feature that distinguishes the species is the leathery column (the source of the species name, and of course not something I can judge) and the large verrucae (warts) on the upper column, in longitudinal rows, which this seems to have, to judge by your photos. These tentacles seem short for the species, but that may be because of the conditions you described. Indeed, typically individuals kept in captivity have shorter tentacles than individuals of the same species in nature: sea anemone tentacles grow from the base and cells die at the tips, so the length is determined by the ratio in timing of the two processes. The short tentacles of captive-kept anemones reflects to me that they are not thriving -- their tentacles are not growing as much before the tip cells die as in nature. It is one of the indicators I use to back up my claim that something is missing -- and by this I do not mean that aquarists are doing something wrong or are mistreating their animals. It is just that humans cannot provide something the animals need, and I do not want to see more animals taken (so they do not contribute to the next generation of anemone or homes to
the next generation of Anemonefishes) in what I consider to be a misguided effort to "solve" the problem. It might never be solved, and even if it is, how many animals have to die in the process?
Sincerely,
Daphne G. Fautin
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Curator, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
Haworth Hall
University of Kansas
1200 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7534 USA
direct to database of Hexacorals, including sea anemones
newest version released 22 December 2010
***http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral/Anemone2***
> Hi,
> I know you must be busy, but I was referred to you by Bob Fenner, who had no
> idea what kind of anemone I have. He has asked me to send you images. So, I
> have uploaded them to Flickr, and you can see them there. I thought this was
>H. crispa, but he says everything is wrong. So, maybe you can help me out finding
> answers, so I can properly care for it. I have had it since July, 2010. It was
> in a local pet store. I got him for ten dollars, because he had lost all
> coloration and was white/glassy and had no tentacles. Basically, the poor thing
> was an oral disk, and I think it might have been dying, but it has taken a lot
> of care, lighting and it has come back somewhat. Here are images of my
> anemone. I'd certainly appreciate your expertise, as I have no clue what I've got.
> You can view the images I uploaded at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishdeeva/
> Thank you sincerely,
> Renee

Anemone Identification - Sebae? 12/2/10
Hello, and thank you in advance. You have been of help for me in the past, and I want to thank you all for the time you donate to help others, such as myself.
Your site has been a huge resource and has been so helpful.
<Very glad that we have helped you>
I purchased this anemone for a very big discount at my pet store. He had been there two months. He was so white, he looked like glass...see-through. His size initially, was about 1.5" across and he was flat, without much of an extension where his tentacles are. The petstore helper said that he had no idea what
it was, but it had arrived as a Sebae, but had not had a good time...he discounted it for $10 if I wanted it, and I took the thing home.
Well, he has grown, and his coloration is increasing, slowly, and I have had him about 3 months. He is now a light pinkish purple, with bright blue tips.
<I see this... unusual coloring>
I would like to see his tentacles get longer, but they don't seem to and they don't seem to be full as the bubble tipped anemone I have had in another system.
This little thing is about 4" across, maybe 5", now and it is not white anymore,
but it's still not dark, either.
<Will likely continue to change, intensify/darken with time>
My system is under 250w HQI 20k lighting. He is approximately 1 foot from that bulb, and he is also given T5 lighting, as a supplement, only the actinics, as I need to purchase new 14k t5ho bulbs for the other two, however it is helping...not as fast as I'd like to see it, but he looks improved.
I don't have any pictures of when he arrived, however, I have some photos I snapped today which I'd like your opinion on.
I have been through your entire site. I read all the differences I could find between the H. Crispa and H. Malu. I still can't identify him properly and in order to get him the right clownfish, I'd like to have an idea what type I should be searching out...I don't particularly like the Clarkii, so I am hopeful he can accept other types.
<Yes, can>
I was thinking of a skunk pair...but let's see what you determine him to be, and go from there.
<I do think this is a Heteractis crispa, a "Sebae" as you state>
His tips aren't pink, they are blue.
<At least they are "dotted" at the tips; a definitive characteristic>
His coloration is a very light lavenderish-tan,
<As I say, strange to me>
and he lives on top of the reef, and has finally adjusted to the lighting after all this time, just this month. His hiding days are gone, thank goodness. He, at first, soaked up light, and then went into the reef and I
was afraid he had died, but he came out earlier this month and continues eating Krill and Mysis Shrimp, and he is now up near the light, soaking and enjoying it.
<Good>
I see him spread out more. My Maroon ignores him, although she swims over and looks...she prefers my frogspawn over him, therefore I am pretty sure it's a Sebae, but I really value your opinion.
Thank you again, and I hope that you can help me identify him.
Photo #1 is the anemone from the top of the tank, showing his coloration, because the flash bleaches him out somewhat.
<Ah yes>
Photo #2 is from the side of the tank and yes, I see the algae behind him...I am picking it out soon as I get this photo out to you! Lol. :)
Renee
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Anemone Identification - Sebae? 12/2/2010
Thank you so much for the response.
<Welcome... Muffin Top?>
I do have another question about health of this particular anemone. Does it look like it's healthy to you, and if not, what would you suggest to help bring him out of it?
<From your report and images, this specimen appears to be on the up and up improvement wise>
I have been feeding him krill and Mysis. This week, I will chop up fish and squid and freeze it for him, thinking this should vary his eating schedule.
<Real good>
Also, I cannot seem to locate Saddleback Clownfish information as to the particular anemone they like the best.
<See the chart here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm
toward the bottom>
Would this anemone be for that clownfish?
<Very likely so... Clownfish species do quite often adapt/adopt other species of anemones, even other groups of organisms to host w/ in captivity>
Thank you,
Renee
<Welcome! BobF>