Rock Flower Anemone eating Sponge

[GoodKat]

Hello,

I just wanted to document what I thought was an odd occurrence. I have a large Rock Flower Anemone (about 5 inches). Tonight during a water change a broke off some fragments of basic white sponge and it floated toward the anemone. To my surprise, the anemone caught it and ate it. I tried to dislodge it but the anemone held tight and ate it.

Hopefully it can digest it. I thought they only ate meaty prey.

It anyone finds this, I think you can add sponges to the list of things they'll eat.

Best,

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have a lot of experience with RFA, both in my tanks and in the wild. I'm not at all surprised that it would ingest a sponge. Anemones will eat almost anything they can hold onto. Some things they can't digest, like a crab's carapace. That's why they occasionally will push their insides out through their mouth. That releases into the water the things they can't digest. Food goes in and waste goes out through the same opening!