Id Please

[vanny]

can someone ID this for me

not sure what it is!

 

[Chad]

Do you have candy canes in your tank? It looks like the head off a candy cane. They do come off from time to time depending on conditions.

 

[vanny]

Thank you for your response, but no do not have candy canes. At first I thought it was my Stomatella, but it looks more like a coral than a snail.

 

[Chad]

It's a coral...or similar thing. I want to say it's a fungia but it's so hard to tell from the photo if it has the striations caused by the skeleton. Fungia are occasional hitchhikers though not at all commonly so. Can you get a different photo of it?

 

[vanny]

here you go:

it looks like it has a head of an aptasia, but I didnt have any that big...
if you want I will probably take it out of the tank and take picture of it tomorrow

 

[Donya]

Anemones like Aiptasia species can often lurk in the rock for a while and surprise you when they finally pop out, although the purse-closing appearance in the top pic is a tad odd for an Aiptasia species. Balls on the ends of the tentacles are also a bit unusual (although doesn't have a distinctly Majano look to it either to me, but I haven't seen as many of them).

Be careful taking it out if you want to preserve it (at least until IDed). Anemones that have stuck themselves onto something are easily injured by being pried free, even from a surface like glass.

 

[Chad]

That is an anemone. Not sure if it's aiptasia, it looks like it has ball at the end of the tips instead of tapered tips, unless I'm seeing it wrong. I would say a ball anemone.

 

[Donya]

Doesn't quite match any Corallimorphs I've seen (of those in Corynactis/Pseudocorynactis anyway); very unusual coloration for what normally shows up, but now that you mention it the balls at the ends do look closest to what I've seen of that group. Of course, Corallimorphs that have been hidden for some time can look pretty different after some good light and food.

 

[Chad]

I'm thinking something along the lines of this...

Not that particular one but that's just to show the anemone-like characteristics.

 

[vanny]

thanks for your help that can be a possibility. I was bored so I took another picture, but ya it does not look like an anemone I just took one out of a tank (chiseled it off the rock)
this may be an enemone that had been hiding and now has come out, but the problem is that I have had the tank for 7 months and have not added anything to it since 3 months ago when I added some frags.
here is the pic (im not that worried about it... but its always nice to learn something new

 

[Chad]

Honestly...that looks so much like a candy cane head...(images below are snagged from google). The heads can come loose...the first photo shows the coloration and shape which is similar and the second shows it in feeding mode with tenticals out...notice the balls on the ends and the color? I'm going back to my first thought on this and not second guessing myself again.

 

[vanny]

Alright coool lucky me, I didnt even buy candy cane coral, looks like it might have been an hitch-hiker from 7 months ago when I bought my live rock.

so how do I take care of it do I just leave in on the sand bed or put up high on a rock with intense light and good flow?

 

[Chad]

I mean...you can see it better in real life than I can from a picture but...am I wrong?

They are an easy to care for hardy LPS that can do good in a range of locations. Lower flow is appreciated by them and medium light.

 

[Donya]

Is there a clear foot that is allowing it to move and/or attach to stuff? That would be the easy distinguishing trait to look for. Bailed-out LPS polyps don't have the same motility/attachment ability that anemones do. They can wiggle a bit and sometimes secrete a really sticky slime and re-attach somewhere to start putting down new skeleton, but they can't quickly and easily sucker onto surfaces with the base as it looks like might be going on in one of the photos further up. But, if that's just it being pushed up against the side by other factors and it didn't actually stick there or have any sort of a grip, then it could well be a bailed polyp.

 

[Chad]

Is there a clear foot that is allowing it to move and/or attach to stuff? That would be the easy distinguishing trait to look for. Bailed-out LPS polyps don't have the same motility/attachment ability that anemones do.

That's a good test.