Haddoni, Gigantea or something else?

cet98 · Sep 29, 2026

On the surface this looks to be a Haddoni until you see the purple verrucae on the underside.
It’s unlike anything I’ve come across so I thought I’d ask around.

Currently in cipro treatment

Thanks for any informative insight

Baldyreef · Sep 30, 2026

Maybe a Stichodactyla mertensii?

D-Nak · Sep 30, 2026

Hmmmm... that's an interesting one. From the top down it looks 100% haddoni, but looking at the verrucae on the foot I'd say gigantea. I'm leaning towards a haddoni with colorful verrucae (which would be an oddity). I have seen extremely stressed out gigs with very short tentacles, but yours is a lot larger than I'm used to seeing.

How thick is the foot? If it's thick compared to the oral disk, then I lean towards haddoni.

Hopefully it makes it through QT so you can see how it behaves. If it digs into the sandbed, that's more indicative of haddoni.

Sorry, I know I'm not adding more than what you probably already know, but this one has definitely got me stumped.

D-Nak · Sep 30, 2026

Baldyreef said:
Maybe a Stichodactyla mertensii?

Possibly, but mertensii verrucae are typically more prevalent--so much so that they form what look more like stripes, and very bright red, pink or orange-brown.

Fish_wiz2 · Sep 30, 2026

Could it be a hybrid?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/haddoni-gigantea-hybrid-comments-invited.609230/

Ron Popeil · Sep 30, 2026

not a mertensii. definitely looks haddoni from the top and while i dont think colored verrucae are entirely unusual for some haddoni, its not typical for the species.

i remember @OrionM had a thread once about a possible gigantae/haddoni hybrid he found. i think its certainly likely these hybrids are collected, or perhaps a new anemone species that no one has thought to describe yet.

cet98 · Sep 30, 2026

D-Nak said:
Hmmmm... that's an interesting one. From the top down it looks 100% haddoni, but looking at the verrucae on the foot I'd say gigantea. I'm leaning towards a haddoni with colorful verrucae (which would be an oddity). I have seen extremely stressed out gigs with very short tentacles, but yours is a lot larger than I'm used to seeing.

How thick is the foot? If it's thick compared to the oral disk, then I lean towards haddoni.

Hopefully it makes it through QT so you can see how it behaves. If it digs into the sandbed, that's more indicative of haddoni.

Sorry, I know I'm not adding more than what you probably already know, but this one has definitely got me stumped.

Here’s a bad vid of the foot, sorry…didn’t want to disturb it too much while in cipro.

D-Nak · Thursday at 1:28 PM

The foot/column looks fairly thick so I'm leaning more towards haddoni at this point. But once it settles in, that could change!

cet98 · Thursday at 9:58 PM

Thanks all. The carpet is doing well in cipro and I’ll get updated pics once it’s settled in.

And now for your amusement…
I just picked up another Haddoni….that shags??!!!
This nem does NOT have any colored verrcue and yet it shags and folds like a Gigantea?
Someone please tell me what’s going on here….

jamie1210 · Saturday at 12:33 AM

cet98 said:
Thanks all. The carpet is doing well in cipro and I’ll get updated pics once it’s settled in.

And now for your amusement…
I just picked up another Haddoni….that shags??!!!
This nem does NOT have any colored verrcue and yet it shags and folds like a Gigantea?
Someone please tell me what’s going on here….

whatever it is, I sure like it! :)

actually, I've had some stressed gigs come in and their verrucae are pretty faded/hard to see initially. After they settle in more, they become more pronounced.

I love the round bulbous tips on the tentacles!