If you were a RBTA, would you eat yourself?

[Chrisv.]

I noticed that recently my bubble tip anemone is hanging out with a tentacle in its mouth. What gives?

 

[Chrisv.]

It's not even the same tentacle each day.

 

[Gedxin]

Kids like to suck their thumbs for years sometimes. If no one told you not to, wouldn't you?

 

[Chrisv.]

Kids like to suck their thumbs for years sometimes. If no one told you not to, wouldn't you?

As a matter of fact as a young child, I did! My parents told me that if I stopped, I would be allowed to keep a snake as a pet, if I could catch one myself. They thought I would never catch a snake on my own. Who encourages a four year old to pick up random snakes. I had a pet snake within a week.

 

[blaxsun]

I noticed that recently my bubble tip anemone is hanging out with a tentacle in its mouth. What gives?

That's not a tentacle...

 

[Chrisv.]

But more to the point, I've had the anemone for 8 months. Over that time it has moved very little. Flow and light have not changed much. But over the last three weeks he has gone from a mostly pink rainbow bta with a greenish body to having half of each tentacle green, with red ends...and an oral fixation.

 

[Chrisv.]

That's not a tentacle...

Haha have we hit the late night hours of r2r?

 

[Gedxin]

I'll have to pay more attention to my nem and see if it's nibbling on its arms. They kinda just go everywhere, so I haven't thought much about self consumption.

 

[Chrisv.]

I'll have to pay more attention to my nem and see if it's nibbling on its arms. They kinda just go everywhere, so I haven't thought much about self consumption.

It doesn't seem to be doing any damage, so my headline was more of a joke than an actual concern about self consumption. But the behavior sure does seem strange!

 

[alain Bouchard]

that is how they bring food that they catch with their arms in their mouth. But, to answer the original question: If I was an anemone, I would kill myself. I hate them.

 

[Chrisv.]

that is how they bring food that they catch with their arms in their mouth. But, to answer the original question: If I was an anemone, I would kill myself. I hate them.

Could this explain what keeps happening at pump intakes?

 

[alain Bouchard]

yes, if he catch small chunks of food at that place. I used to feed them manually small chunks of food once in a while (When I didnt hate them that much), and that is how they eat.

 

[Chrisv.]

yes, if he catch small chunks of food at that place. I used to feed them manually small chunks of food once in a while (When I didnt hate them that much), and that is how they eat.

Oh I was making a joke about anemone suicide. But in all seriousness, these anemone arms are shoulder deep! It's often a tentacle that is 1/3 away from the mouth that is as far i to it's mouth as it can go. Normally when I target feed, the whole anemone balls up around the food.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

I've caught mine doing the same from time to time, always figured it was just cleaning itself

 

[blaxsun]

My BTA has made two loops around a particular rock face over the past few days - including squeezing through a tiny recess under the rocks. Why? Why not apparently...