Weird hitchiker/soft coral?

LosingAim

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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
20240831_155145.jpg
20240831_155037.jpg
20240831_155006.jpg
20240831_154958.jpg
 
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LosingAim

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

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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?
 
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LosingAim

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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 it‍♂️all the other corals i have just close up. I'll try to make a vid
 

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I touched it with bare hands, but it tries to grab anything, i just tried with a plastic pipette and it was grabbing it‍♂️all 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.
 
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LosingAim

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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
 
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LosingAim

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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
 

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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:
Edit: to add some references for how to arrive at the species:
(This one I've only seen as a downloadable option.)
 
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LosingAim

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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:
(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:
(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
 

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