Can somebody ID this for me ?

[jsandman001]

Hello,

First time poster and a newbie to saltwater. I ordered liverock from Florida.....the cultured stuff. It is pretty alive with critters.

I have a brain coral with an anemone beside it.......the circled critter. Is this a bad guy or a good guy? It is really close to the brain. I have some aptasia that I can ID for sure but this guy looks different and I wanted to know for sure.

Also a couple even more newbie questions. What kind of brain coral do I have and should I feed it ? If so what does it eat?

To confuse this even more the brain is sitting on a big clam.....I'm pretty sure it needs to eat so what do clams like to eat ?

Thank you,

James

 

[amashun]

Hi James, welcome to RF.

I can not possibly ID it but does it move or stayed in the same position? if it does not move then i would guess it is zoanthids sp.

Your brain could be a Trachyphyllia geoffroyi, but i would love to see more pictures to confirm if possible. Some people would feed it and some don't, i personally do not feed my LPS because during regular feeding, it may already capture the food already.

When you say sitting on a clam, can you post a picture? it could be oyster as well.

HTH

 

[returnofsid]

It looks suspiciously like a Majano Anemone, which will be confirmed, if it moves. However, once it moves, it might move to a place where you can't get to it. I'd suggest getting it out now.

 

[lizardarm]

Looks like a glass anemone to me. Not sure exactly what type of brain that is. Here's a link to some basic clam care info-
http://wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_1/cav1i3/Clam_care/Clam_care.htm
and there is a clam forum here on RF.
Welcome aboard!

 

[jsandman001]

I have not seen him move except in and out of the rock crevice he is on. He only comes fully out at night and just to get that picture I had to hurry up and turn the lights on and take it before his tentacles retracted and he went into his little crevice.


My brother thought it was a Majano but wasn't sure. The rock I received has a lot of aptasia and two of the of the things in the picture.

As far as more pics yeah I will take some.

Any more ID's from you folks would be appreciated....like I said I dont want to kill something good and I'm to new to know what all is good or bad.

Thanks lizardarm for pointing me to the clam care and the rest of you for the advice so far and the welcome.

James

 

[returnofsid]

As long as you have appropriate lighting, don't feed the clam. Clams eat phytoplankton, which would just create an algae problem for you. If you're lighting isn't appropriate for a clam, you might need to feed phytoplankton a couple times per week.

Also, even if it's not an aiptasia or majano, where it's located, even if it's a good polyp of some kind, the brain would likely kill it. If it's an aiptasia or majano, it'll be stinging the brain instead.

 

[jsandman001]

returnofsid: I have a 29 gallon tank with 150watt metal halide on it.
I am a total newbie but that was my first worry.....I was afraid with them being so close (less than an inch) that one would kill the other.

James

 

[NaH2O]

I also think that is a majano anemone.

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[jsandman001]

Thanks NaH2O......ok then I'm going with Majano since thats what you all think. Obvious question is how do I get rid of Majano and Aptasia ?

I'm considering a peppermint shrimp for the Aptasia......I hear its not easy to get a true peppermint.....anyone know a place where I can be sure to get one?

As far as the Majano I'm stuck.......does anyone have a way to get rid of them? Remember now I have a brain coral very very close and I don't want to take a chance of killing it or the clam its on.

I have syringes....does the injecting with boiling water work ? That seems like the least invasive to my coral so far but I'm hoping you folks can tell me a sure fired way without me doing something stupid.

Thanks for all the help

 

[thincat]

Ditto on the majano...to bad they sting and move so much..not bad looking

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Get a hypo syringe and inject it with almost anything, vinegar, kalk slurry, calcium suppliment, ph booster, you name it. Just make sure whatever leaks out is not so strong that it kills part of the coral.

 

[thincat]

There is no real 100% product that won't kill a coral. Just use caution and not use so much that it spills over onto your coral. Even if the product says "reef safe".

 

[Opsanus tau]

The Coral you have there is is an extreamly rare,(in the trade due to CITES regulations)coral; Manicina areolata,(Rose Coral) it is the ONLY SPECIES OF THIS GENUS and OLNY exists in the Tropical Atlantic.
Trachyphyllia only exists in the Pacific, and would never be present on a peice of Aqua-cultured Atlantic rock.

as for the anemone, I'm not sure about the origin of these pest anemones you speak of, but being an Atlantic Coral Culture Biologist, have never run into them,..I suspect they are Pacific in origin, (if circumtropical, I have never seen them).
It looks like the Atlantic Sunburst Anemone, but I can't be too sure, I would eradicate it no matter what as to ensure that Rose Coral doesn't experience ant ill effects from it's nematocysts-Dave

 

[amashun]

wow that is interesting Opsanus tau. thanks for the info!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Welcome to RF and thanks for the contribution OT.
As to the opin on specie and rarity, I find it difficult to positively ID without seeing a bit more of the structure and color of tissue. If indeed it is that species, not so rare either per this :

"Manicina areolata is a Faviid but because of the puffy appearance of the fleshy tissue it often resembles a Mussid. Although this species doesn't usually get much larger than a few inches across, in certain shallow backreef and lagoonal habitats it can occur at densities well above a dozen individuals per square meter. Juvenile Manicina corals begin life as a conical oval shaped polyp which is attached to a substrate by a central stalk. The most common areolata growth form has tighter valleys and it will maintain an elliptical outline with a conical base that can remain attached or become free-living and lying in the substrate. The less common mayori growth form has wider valleys and it grows to a larger size with a flattened underside. Although nearly all Atlantic stony corals are unavailable in the aquarium trade, this species is an exception. Manicina frequently grows out on cultured live rock from the Tampa Bay area and it is available from dealers who request this coral along with their rock. The free living form of Manicina greatly resembles the common Trachyphyllia coral."

 

[oldsaint]

Here's a list of some common hitchhikers on atlantic cultured rock from TBS (Tampa Bay Saltwater) including the Manicina.

http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/thepackage/organisms.html

 

[Opsanus tau]

Herefishyfishy, has a territoriality/ insecurity problem,..and is just confrontational for the point of feeling good about himself!
Wikipedia is not a good substitute for experience!!!!!
You need professional help!
..I promise to never visit your little world again!

 

[oldsaint]

Wikipedia is not a good substitute for experience!!!!!

It's not from wiki
Jake's a pretty smart guy in my book.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/2/aafeature4

 

[jsandman001]

Wow folks thanks for all the help Opsansus tau thank you for helping me with an ID also Herefishyfishy on my brain coral...........could I take a couple pictures of the brain (hopefully better ones) to get a more positive ID? I would really like to know now if I have something rare or not. Also I'm reading a lot of stuff that says I should feed brains twice a week others saynot to feed at all......do I feed it? If so what?

Also thanks folks for the help on how to get rid of Majano. Still my question hanging out there is does anyone know where to get a true Peppermint Shrimp for the Aptasia? I dont want to put a ton of chemicals in the tank so if they can be controlled otherwise thats the way I want to go.

Since we are still on ID check this out guy out. I made a trap for him from a couple articles I found:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/bp/index.php
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/clarke_shimek.html

I am finding so many interesting things on my rock good and bad and learning about all this stuff is pretty cool.....I really like this new saltwater hobby.

I will leave it here for now but if better pics of the brain would help me and or others figure out what it is please let me know and I will get something better on here.

Thanks all,

James

 

[oldsaint]

I would really like to know now if I have something rare or not.

Personally I wouldn't consider it rare. For years TBS's facility was about a 15min walk from one of my shops, until they moved a couple years ago. I saw them in there frequently.
Rare or not, still a GREAT freebie!!!
How much rock did you get? You'll see more and more new stuff as the rock matures.

Here's some info on the different Peppermints. You can google Lysmata wurdemanni and find several places to get them or descriptions for when you look for them at LFS. I never had much luck with them but I probably didn't use enough. The tank was a 260 and feed well. So they just scavenged the food. Only thing that worked for me was multiple shots of Joe's Juice or Aptasia X.