Male maroon anemonefish and bubbletip anemone
I finally replaced the camera I lost in my Christmas tumble, and the images are looking pretty good. I had been happy with my previous Olympus, so I stuck with the brand but bought a more expensive model, the Mju9000. I’m now just waiting for a sunny weekend to give it a good workout.
Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
This morning I peeked into one of my reef tanks and noticed that the resident anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) looked a little strange, as if it was spread out more than usual with its middle under a rock. Giving it some thought, then moving the rocks to have a look, I found that this is not the case. It seems that about a quarter of the anemone has broken off to become a new anemone. In the photo below, the quarter section is in the hole on the left, and the main part of the anemone is on the right.
Bubbletip anemones
Asexual reproduction through fission is not uncommon in anemones. I had a close look at the main part, and it’s like a quarter pie slice has been taken out of the anemone, and those edges are being brought together to be joined. The remaining quarter, I assume, is doing a similar task, stretching itself around to make a full circle. The result of this is, of course, that my anemone has cloned itself – the anemones are genetically identical.
The larger section starting to heal
Radial symmetry must make reproduction by fission much easier. I would hate to undergo the process myself.
Male maroon anemonefish and possible eggs with host bubbletip anemone
I’ve recently noticed a new patch of small, semi-transparent greeny blobs next to my anemone, and suspect that they’re eggs from my maroon anemonefish (Premnas biaculeatus). Both the fish seem rather protective of them. If they are eggs, it will be the first breeding in my marine tanks.
I’ve also noticed that my Tanganyika shell dwelling cichlids, Neolamprologus multifasciatus, have had their first breeding since I had a filter crash in January that killed about half of them. Quite a few fry are starting to poke their heads up out of the shells.
Entacmaea quadricolor and Premnas biaculeata
A while back I had a bubbletip anemone in one of my two marine aquariums. Unfortunately the anemone bleached and subsequently died – possibly from either poor lighting or water chemistry.
Since then I have upgraded that tank from dual T8 to quad T5 lighting, and changed from a canister filter to a protein skimmer and a home made wet/dry trickle filter. With this upgrade in equipment, I decided to give anemones another try and grabbed a new anemone from Cairns Marine.
The two maroon anemonefish, who have been without a host anemone for three months or so, found the anemone within a couple of minutes. By the time I turned the lights on they were quite happy deep in its tentacles, and the anemone had moved slightly to sit right in the corner of the tank.
Overnight the anemone started to wander, and this morning it seems to have found a place it’s happy with. Once again I find myself amazed that this is an animal with no central nervous system or eyes, yet it manages to go hunting for a spot that suits its needs.
Amphiprion percula at Welcome Bay, Fitzroy Island
Click the image for a large version
A clown anemonefish at Fitzroy Island
This video shows my pair of maroon anemonefish (Premnas biaculeata) when I was dropping pieces of krill into the tank. The male anemonefish (the smaller one) darts out to grab some krill and then returns to the bubbletip anemone (Entacmacea quadricolor), and purposefully feeds the krill to the anemone.
The bubbletip anemone is the type of anemone most commonly encountered while snorkelling. They are host to a number of anemonefish, including the maroon, Barrier Reef, and tomato anemonefish. Anemones are difficult to maintain in an aquarium, but the bubbletip is probably the easiest. I’ve had some trouble with bleaching since this video was taken, though more frequent water changes and feeding a greater variety of food seems to have turned things around.
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