ID: Pseudocorynactis sp.?

[gholland]

I was admiring the predator tank at a LFS and spotted this little guy (15-20 mm) hiding in a shady area on a piece of rubble. Five dollars and 30 minutes later, I got it home to discover there are actually about a dozen of these little guys (some as small as 1-2 mm) on the rock! I was hoping this was a pseudocorynactis because I love corallimorphs that feed. These fed readily, almost as soon as they were acclimated. You can actually see the pink tinge from the cyclop-eeze among the mesenterial filaments.



Is anyone familiar with these? How big will they get?

[aquarius77]

Im not certain but i think thats an anemone, not a shroom.

[gholland]

I think the common name for pseudocorynactis is "orange-ball (or white-ball) anemone" although they are actually classified as corallimorphs.

[gholland]

Nevermind... I finally got the search function to work and pulled up some old posts to confirm my ID. Sounds like they might reach the size of a nickel... we shall see!

[Tallinu]

I've had one lurking in the back of my 125 for a couple of years. I noticed him one night with a flashlight search. Unfortunately he's far back in a cave on a rock that is part of the support for all the rockwork in that area or I'd be able to have taken an active interest in feeding him up. He seems to be getting by on whatever night life he catches and thats about it. You have a nice photo of yours.

Tony

[gholland]

Thanks Tony. I have a low light mantis tank where I keep all my azooxanthellate corals that don't need light (dendros, tubastreas, etc.)... keeps the algae from covering them. I have always read that these things typically live in caves or under ledges, but they seem to be perfectly happy in my tank with the single actinic pc. Most of them have actually moved UP the rock they were on where I can see them better instead of crawling away to a truly dark spot.

How large would you say yours is?

[psionicfish]

I have several of these in my tank. They're orange ball anemones (isn't actually an anemone, but a corallimorph). They appear to be non-photosynthetic carnivores, as you've found out it already. I believe Melev has them listed on his ID page as reef safe, but the balls on the end of their tentacles are mighty sticky and probably sting it's prey. I would be careful where these are placed in proximity to corals, but most likely they will retreat to a shaded area where there are no corals.

Here's one in my tank that caught a Collonista snail. It's roughtly the size of a nickle.



I do not feed the tank anything besides light (I don't have any fish) and I know I've had them for over 1.5 years. Seem to be doing fine off pods

[gholland]

Is that the snail inside it?