Weird hitchiker/soft coral?

[LosingAim]

Hello everyone!
I've been in the hobby for a couple of years now and i have a 50cm cube.
So basically a couple of months ago a went to get some corals from someone. I always go with glass jars becouse is super convinient for me.
So anyway at the bottom of a jar there was this thing that looks kind of like a soft coral.
I've kept them it an acrylic box and now there are 3, but the oldest didn't grow much.
Another odd thing is that if i touc them with my finger they grabb it immediatly. Also they attach instantly with their foot to anything they touch.
Here a couple of pics

 

[SomeHappyFish]

Looks like a tiny rock flower anemone.

 

[LosingAim]

Are they safe? Will they sting everything they touch if they detach from the rocks? will they grow?

 

[BristleWormHater]

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[BristleWormHater]

Looks like a tiny rock flower anemone.

Don't think so, in picture #1 you can see a stalk in between the foot and the body. Rfa don't have that.

 

[LosingAim]

Don't think so, in picture #1 you can see a stalk in between the foot and the body. Rfa don't have that.

Yeah it has a stalk

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That's an anemone of some kind, and branching tentacles are pretty rare in anemones, so there's only a handful of genera it could be from.

Could you get some pictures of it under white lighting? The blue light drowns out a lot of details.

Also, did you touch it with bare skin, or while wearing a glove?

 

[SomeHappyFish]

 

[LosingAim]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That's an anemone of some kind, and branching tentacles are pretty rare in anemones, so there's only a handful of genera it could be from.

Could you get some pictures of it under white lighting? The blue light drowns out a lot of details.

Also, did you touch it with bare skin, or while wearing a glove?

I touched it with bare hands, but it tries to grab anything, i just tried with a plastic pipette and it was grabbing it‍all the other corals i have just close up. I'll try to make a vid

 

[SomeHappyFish]

Does it look like this ? https://livegemfactory.com/product/beaded-anenome/

 

[LosingAim]

Of course now it doesn't do it

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I touched it with bare hands, but it tries to grab anything, i just tried with a plastic pipette and it was grabbing it‍all the other corals i have just close up. I'll try to make a vid

Well, if you didn't have a very painful, severe reaction to it grabbing you, that eliminates a number of possible options (the fire anemones).

So, my first thought would a Thalassianthus species like T. aster.

 

[LosingAim]

Does it look like this ? https://livegemfactory.com/product/beaded-anenome/

Yeah kinda looks like it, the tentacles are a little bit different tho, maybe because it is still very small?
Also the guy who gave me the other corals said se had never seen it in his tank

 

[LosingAim]

Well, if you didn't have a very painful, severe reaction to it grabbing you, that eliminates a number of possible options (the fire anemones).

So, my first thought would a Thalassianthus species like T. aster.

Nop, felt nothing apart it grabbing to my finger

 

[LosingAim]

I think you are onto something, some pics look very, very close

Well, if you didn't have a very painful, severe reaction to it grabbing you, that eliminates a number of possible options (the fire anemones).

So, my first thought would a Thalassianthus species like T. aster

 

[SomeHappyFish]

Looks cool, is it reef safe? Where are you keeping it at the moment?

 

[LosingAim]

Looks cool, is it reef safe? Where are you keeping it at the moment?

in an acrylic box inside the tank.
The problem is this morning there were 3. Now its 2
ONE ESCAPED ITS CAGE
Hopefully its safe

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I think you are onto something, some pics look very, very close

I think I can see some nematospheres (ball-shaped tentacles sticking off of the main tentacles) in the white light pics, so that would confirm it's a Thalassinathid anemone, and from there we can confirm it's a Thalassianthus species specifically (by comparing the size of the column to the size of the oral disk, and by noting the permanent tentacular lobes formed by the tentacles around the outside of the oral disk; from there, by noting the lack of undulation around the edges of the oral disk, we can tell it's T. aster).

These reportedly have pretty decent stings (thankfully not like fire anemones though) and can sting corals, so not particularly reef-safe. I'm not sure how they do with fish, but I would assume they're not particularly safe that way either.


Also, just as a word of caution for the future - it's not a good idea to touch unidentified anemones (particularly with branching tentacles) with bare hands; some of them have really bad stings:

I'm not sure which is the most potent, but there are quite a few that could hurt humans, including at least one or two that are commonly kept (such as the Haddoni Anemone) - and yes, some could kill you without you suffering from anaphylaxis:

"A few species possess highly toxic venoms and are hazardous for humans. The Hell’s Fire sea anemone (Actinodendron plumosum) is named for the severe skin ulceration caused by its sting [10,20]. Envenomation by the sea anemone Stichodactyla haddoni caused shock and organ failure, including fulminant hepatitis [22,24]. Phyllodiscus semoni (P. semoni) is another sea anemone dangerous to humans. The sting usually induces severe dermatitis with ulceration and profound swelling in the regions of contact [18,21]. More serious sequelae of envenomation by P. semoni include the development of acute renal failure without evidence of dysfunction of other organs [18]."

Some Condylactis anemones are also somewhat dangerous, but I'm not sure of which species at the moment.

My source:

Exploiting the Nephrotoxic Effects of Venom from the Sea Anemone, Phyllodiscus semoni, to Create a Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Model in the Rat

In the natural world, there are many creatures with venoms that have interesting and varied activities. Although the sea anemone, a member of the phylum Coelenterata, has venom that it uses to capture and immobilise small fishes and shrimp and for protection ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Edit: to add some references for how to arrive at the species:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254909897_Reinterpretation_of_some_tentacular_structures_in_actinodendronid_and_thalassianthid_sea_anemones_Cnidaria_Actiniaria

https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/entities/publication/920afa58-3705-4453-ae71-6be79d713e7e

(This one I've only seen as a downloadable option.)

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Oh, and to add:

Something that you may find fun if it does turn out to be T. aster - they are sometimes carried on hermit crab shells.

 

[LosingAim]

I think I can see some nematospheres (ball-shaped tentacles sticking off of the main tentacles) in the white light pics, so that would confirm it's a Thalassinathid anemone, and from there we can confirm it's a Thalassianthus species specifically (by comparing the size of the column to the size of the oral disk, and by noting the permanent tentacular lobes formed by the tentacles around the outside of the oral disk; from there, by noting the lack of undulation around the edges of the oral disk, we can tell it's T. aster).

These reportedly have pretty decent stings (thankfully not like fire anemones though) and can sting corals, so not particularly reef-safe. I'm not sure how they do with fish, but I would assume they're not particularly safe that way either.


Also, just as a word of caution for the future - it's not a good idea to touch unidentified anemones (particularly with branching tentacles) with bare hands; some of them have really bad stings:

Edit: to add some references for how to arrive at the species:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254909897_Reinterpretation_of_some_tentacular_structures_in_actinodendronid_and_thalassianthid_sea_anemones_Cnidaria_Actiniaria

https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/entities/publication/920afa58-3705-4453-ae71-6be79d713e7e

(This one I've only seen as a downloadable option.)

Thanks a lot for your time, to everyone who answered!
I think i'm going to kill it with fire then

I think I can see some nematospheres (ball-shaped tentacles sticking off of the main tentacles) in the white light pics, so that would confirm it's a Thalassinathid anemone, and from there we can confirm it's a Thalassianthus species specifically (by comparing the size of the column to the size of the oral disk, and by noting the permanent tentacular lobes formed by the tentacles around the outside of the oral disk; from there, by noting the lack of undulation around the edges of the oral disk, we can tell it's T. aster).

These reportedly have pretty decent stings (thankfully not like fire anemones though) and can sting corals, so not particularly reef-safe. I'm not sure how they do with fish, but I would assume they're not particularly safe that way either.


Also, just as a word of caution for the future - it's not a good idea to touch unidentified anemones (particularly with branching tentacles) with bare hands; some of them have really bad stings:

Edit: to add some references for how to arrive at the species:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254909897_Reinterpretation_of_some_tentacular_structures_in_actinodendronid_and_thalassianthid_sea_anemones_Cnidaria_Actiniaria

https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/entities/publication/920afa58-3705-4453-ae71-6be79d713e7e

(This one I've only seen as a downloadable option.)

Thanks a lot for your time, to everyone who answered!
I think i'm going to kill it with fire then