Aiptasia, Lightbulb anemone, or something else?

[albie]

Another hitchhiker on my Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. Can someone please ID it?

 

[MoshJosh]

Unfortunately it looks like a big aptasia to me.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Unfortunately it looks like a big aptasia to me.

+1 for aiptaisa.

 

[Tamberav]

They have tons of pics and info on their site

I didn’t go through them all

It doesn’t look like common aiptasia and I’m not even sure it’s native to that area but probably lots of relatives

hitchhikers – Tampa Bay Saltwater

tbsaltwater.com

Unfortunately the description seems to be an error under the photo

 

[albie]

They have tons of pics and info on their site

I didn’t go through them all

It doesn’t look like common aiptasia and I’m not even sure it’s native to that area but probably lots of relatives

hitchhikers – Tampa Bay Saltwater

tbsaltwater.com

Unfortunately the description seems to be an error under the photo

Yes, I have gone through the photos on their site, but find so many things look similar to each other, or not like the photo at all, that I can’t make a positive ID.

 

[albie]

@LiverockRocks - please can you weigh in?

 

[Tamberav]

Yes, I have gone through the photos on their site, but find so many things look similar to each other, or not like the photo at all, that I can’t make a positive ID.

My guess is Bellactis lux

The tentacles are not always inflated.

Post 18 shows a good example of how different they can look

Meet Bellactis Lux, the lightbulb anemone!

Meet Bellactis lux n. sp. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Aiptasiidae), a new sea anemone from the Gulf of Mexico! Tampa Bay Saltwater founder, Richard Londeree, has been observing Lightbulb anemones for over 30 years in the Gulf of Mexico and as of October 2023, this anemone has an official...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[albie]

My guess is Bellactis lux

The tentacles are not always inflated.

Post 18 shows a good example of how different they can look

Meet Bellactis Lux, the lightbulb anemone!

Meet Bellactis lux n. sp. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Aiptasiidae), a new sea anemone from the Gulf of Mexico! Tampa Bay Saltwater founder, Richard Londeree, has been observing Lightbulb anemones for over 30 years in the Gulf of Mexico and as of October 2023, this anemone has an official...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for weighing in. I thought this was the most likely contender as there was a much smaller one on our previous shipment of rock, but this one looked different again - and much larger - and a little too worryingly similar to aiptasia, that I wanted to confirm. Still looks like it could go either way, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[albie]

Unfortunately it looks like a big aptasia to me.

Thanks for replying. Hoping it’s not, but good to get opinions.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I got TBS almost exactly a year ago. Didn't see any for 6 months, then these started appearing. Only have a few, but they have lots of stripes. Don't really think they are the common aiptasia either, but have ordered f aiptasia to kill it since I want to seed dry rock in here for other tanks.

 

[albie]

I got TBS almost exactly a year ago. Didn't see any for 6 months, then these started appearing. Only have a few, but they have lots of stripes. Don't really think they are the common aiptasia either, but have ordered f aiptasia to kill it since I want to seed dry rock in here for other tanks.

Our smaller anemones in the previous batch of rock had more definite stripes and were identified as the lightbulbs. Still not something I wanted to keep though so had 2 peppermint shrimps in this order to try and remove them. They haven’t gone to the old ones or whatever this is yet though. This one doesn’t have the clear stripes of the smaller ones.

Good luck getting rid of yours!

 

[LiverockRocks]

They have tons of pics and info on their site

I didn’t go through them all

It doesn’t look like common aiptasia and I’m not even sure it’s native to that area but probably lots of relatives

hitchhikers – Tampa Bay Saltwater

tbsaltwater.com

Unfortunately the description seems to be an error under the photo

Hiya, looks like hiker photos and descriptions are jumbled in the phone application. We will fix this.

Another hitchhiker on my Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock. Can someone please ID it?

Could be a lightbulb or a sponge anemone; if you don't want it add a pair of peppermint shrimp or a copperband butterfly. This one is pretty lite, like a yellow lightbulb that fades. In general, we tend to see them darker and or with bands. Biologists at FFW say you can dig them out with a blunt instrument.

Our smaller anemones in the previous batch of rock had more definite stripes and were identified as the lightbulbs. Still not something I wanted to keep though so had 2 peppermint shrimps in this order to try and remove them. They haven’t gone to the old ones or whatever this is yet though. This one doesn’t have the clear stripes of the smaller ones.

Good luck getting rid of yours!

There are many varieties in the family Aiptasiidae. It would be great to have more photographic documentation for easier identifications.

Many TBS customers choose to keep sponge/lightbulb nems. Either front and center of the display tank, or turn the rock around so the nem is hidden in the back or place the rock in the sump.

 

[Tamberav]

Thanks for weighing in. I thought this was the most likely contender as there was a much smaller one on our previous shipment of rock, but this one looked different again - and much larger - and a little too worryingly similar to aiptasia, that I wanted to confirm. Still looks like it could go either way, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

The annoying prolific brown Aiptasia we think of…. I don’t think it native to this area.

That being said, pretty sure these are all relatives. They may not be as prolific but potentially can be annoying and spread some.