Ron Reefman's Rock Flower experience

[SymbiontSam]

Hi everyone! I am a graduate student studying sea anemones and their algal symbionts along the rocky intertidal coast of California. Although I do not study them, rock flower anemones (Phymanthus crucifer) are one of my favorite species! I have just gotten back into the hobby, and this thread has been feeding all of my curiosities about keeping rock flowers in the aquarium. I do not have much to contribute from experience as I have only kept them in my aquariums a couple of times, but I thought some people may be interested in the scientific articles I have been reading. I promised Ron I would post this here… a year ago, sorry!!

Below is a summary of some research articles I found interesting. These are by no means thorough summaries; you can usually find open access sources for these articles on google if you’re really interested.

Jennison 1981

• P. crucifer is dioecious, meaning having two sexes.
• It has a 1:1, male:female sex ratio at least in the samples collected in this study.
• It is usually found in dense aggregations in sandy/rocky habitat, which is likely due to their reproductive strategy (brooding, low dispersal potential).
• When collections were made in May and June in Key West, FL, all had spawned in May and half had spawned in June.
• Gametes were observed in February and March, but they were absent in May.
• Juveniles were found inside coelenterons (essentially the stomach) of females with 6, 12, and 24 tentacles. However, a few juveniles and planulae larvae were found in the coelenteron of males. They also observed females releasing unfertilized eggs into the environment, very confusing reproductive biology!
• Juveniles were found in females in December, March, and May, but the majority of observations were from samples collected in May.
• Fertilization is internal, embryos develop internally, and juveniles develop internally before release (generally).
• There is evidence that there is a low level of reproduction year-round.
• There is confusion in the literature about brooding and planulae release in P. crucifer (i.e. brooding in Key West and planulae release in Barbados). It is likely that both reproductive strategies are used.
• P. crucifer may change sex (some males had planulae and juveniles).

Sebens 1982

• In Galeta, Panama P. crucifer occurs within sandy pockets among other coralliomorphs such as zoanthids, Aiptasia, and Actinostella flosculifera.
• They occur on reef flats landward side of the forereef.
• Some could be intertidal.

Rowan and Powers 1991

• Symbionts in P. crucifer from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands had symbionts from group “C” (now Cladocopium) similar to many symbionts in other corals, zoanthids, and polythoa. Aiptasia generally have group “B” (now Breviolum) and Acropora group “A” (now Symbiodinium).

González-Muñoz et al 2015

• Three distinct morphotypes (shapes) of tentacles based on the presence or absence of protuberances on the tentacles.
• We do not know why they have these protuberances, but it might have something to do with increasing surface area for algal symbionts.
• There are no significant genetic differences found in this study among the three morphotypes.
• P. crucifer may need to be revised as two haplotypes (group of genes inherited together) were discovered, but these haplotypes had no apparent visual differences.

I have Ron to thank for getting me back into rock flowers with this wonderful thread! And, thank you for the heads up on Colin Foord’s talk at MACNA. I will be passing through that part of Florida on that day, so I plan to stop by! Looking forward to seeing fellow RFA enthusiasts there

Samuel

 

[Redleg]

my garden under blues

 

[Ron Reefman]

I started a new thread with these questions. But I know some people are following this thread so I wanted to post it here as well. @hdsoftail1065... and his wife!

I'll be at the RFA presentation by Colin Foord at MACNA on Sunday (9/1/19 at 10am). I believe the presentation is oriented toward reproduction which is also my primary interest. But I'm making a list of general RFA questions that I hope he will answer in the presentation. And if he doesn't, I'll try to ask as many as I can in the Q&A after the presentation.

So do you have any questions you'd like me to ask? If you do, post them here and I'll try to ask them and post answers here on Monday.

Here is the list I have so far:
Do RFA spawn or reproduce on a cosmic or seasonal schedule?
If not, how often can they reproduce in a year?
Do they exhibit any identifying traits before they spawn or give birth?
Is there a specific time of day they spawn or deliver young?
How many young will they produce on average?
Is there any way to tell male from female?
Is it true that shallow water RFA are ‘plain’ and deep water RFA are colorful?
If true, are shallow and deep water RFA the same species?
Is it true that shallow water RFA do photosynthesis better than deep water RFA?
Can deep water RFA change zooxanthellae and do photosynthesis better in a high light environment?
How long does it take a new born RFA to reach sexual maturity?
What is the range of the RFA?
Can RFA survive on photosynthesis alone?
If not, is ‘normal’ fish feeding enough for them or should they be spot fed? How often?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi everyone! I am a graduate student studying sea anemones and their algal symbionts along the rocky intertidal coast of California. Although I do not study them, rock flower anemones (Phymanthus crucifer) are one of my favorite species! I have just gotten back into the hobby, and this thread has been feeding all of my curiosities about keeping rock flowers in the aquarium. I do not have much to contribute from experience as I have only kept them in my aquariums a couple of times, but I thought some people may be interested in the scientific articles I have been reading. I promised Ron I would post this here… a year ago, sorry!!

Below is a summary of some research articles I found interesting. These are by no means thorough summaries; you can usually find open access sources for these articles on google if you’re really interested.

Jennison 1981

• P. crucifer is dioecious, meaning having two sexes.
• It has a 1:1, male:female sex ratio at least in the samples collected in this study.
• It is usually found in dense aggregations in sandy/rocky habitat, which is likely due to their reproductive strategy (brooding, low dispersal potential).
• When collections were made in May and June in Key West, FL, all had spawned in May and half had spawned in June.
• Gametes were observed in February and March, but they were absent in May.
• Juveniles were found inside coelenterons (essentially the stomach) of females with 6, 12, and 24 tentacles. However, a few juveniles and planulae larvae were found in the coelenteron of males. They also observed females releasing unfertilized eggs into the environment, very confusing reproductive biology!
• Juveniles were found in females in December, March, and May, but the majority of observations were from samples collected in May.
• Fertilization is internal, embryos develop internally, and juveniles develop internally before release (generally).
• There is evidence that there is a low level of reproduction year-round.
• There is confusion in the literature about brooding and planulae release in P. crucifer (i.e. brooding in Key West and planulae release in Barbados). It is likely that both reproductive strategies are used.
• P. crucifer may change sex (some males had planulae and juveniles).

Sebens 1982

• In Galeta, Panama P. crucifer occurs within sandy pockets among other coralliomorphs such as zoanthids, Aiptasia, and Actinostella flosculifera.
• They occur on reef flats landward side of the forereef.
• Some could be intertidal.

Rowan and Powers 1991

• Symbionts in P. crucifer from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands had symbionts from group “C” (now Cladocopium) similar to many symbionts in other corals, zoanthids, and polythoa. Aiptasia generally have group “B” (now Breviolum) and Acropora group “A” (now Symbiodinium).

González-Muñoz et al 2015

• Three distinct morphotypes (shapes) of tentacles based on the presence or absence of protuberances on the tentacles.
• We do not know why they have these protuberances, but it might have something to do with increasing surface area for algal symbionts.
• There are no significant genetic differences found in this study among the three morphotypes.
• P. crucifer may need to be revised as two haplotypes (group of genes inherited together) were discovered, but these haplotypes had no apparent visual differences.

I have Ron to thank for getting me back into rock flowers with this wonderful thread! And, thank you for the heads up on Colin Foord’s talk at MACNA. I will be passing through that part of Florida on that day, so I plan to stop by! Looking forward to seeing fellow RFA enthusiasts there

Samuel

@SymbiontSam, Samuel, I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to see you here! After all this time I had given up hope... ;Dead. You saw my tank in December 2018. I've bought a few new RFA, I've collected a couple in the Keys (including a blue one I think is kind of rare) and I've had another round of reproduction so now I have about 40 to 45 RFA in a 2'x2'x20" tank! I'm now building a DIY 3'x30"x20" 90g tank with more than double the open sand for RFA.

Hope to see you at MACNA!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

I was wondering if there was any correlation between water depth / PAR levels versus the most prevalent colors.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I was wondering if there was any correlation between water depth / PAR levels versus the most prevalent colors.

Excellent question!

One I was hoping to clarify with Colin Foord at his MACNA presentation. But he cancelled and left for home (Miami) due to Hurricane Dorian. Bummer! ;Facepalm

It's my limited experience that RFA's in very shallow water, 1 to 3 feet, tend to have off white, ivory, tan, brown faces sometimes with black stripes. The tentacles are white or green most of the time.

I have a few collected in 5 to 10 feet and they do have most color in the face like red & green, but they seem to be muted colors and not very fluorescent if fluorescent at all!

A frind is a scuba diver and collects the very colorful and multi colored and very fluorescent RFA's from 30 to 50 feet deep. IMHO, they don't do photosynthesis as well as the shallow water RFA's. But that is based strictly on my personal experience and has absolutely no science behind it at all! So take that for what it's worth.

 

[Ron Reefman]

So I was going to go to MACNA on Sunday specifically to see Colin Foord's presentation on RFA breeding. But Hurricane Dorian got in the way. Early on it looked like conditions would be bad for me to even get there as the spaghetti models were running Dorian right through the state of Florida. As Sunday approached, Dorian's projected path was looking barely OK for me, but Colin Foord lives in Miami and he left the convention to get home and do some hurricane prep.

So I still want to hear and learn what Colin knows about Rock Flower anemone breeding. So I found an email address that would get a message to him and asked him a few questions and also sent a link to this thread. He sent me an email back and has told me it would be OK with him if I posted it here. Hey, if nothing else, it's some free publicity for him and his company Coral Morphologic!

Coral Morphologic

Coral Morphologic proposes that unlocking the secrets of coral reproduction and aquaculture is a culminating achievement in humankind's quest for colonization of planet Earth, and is a gateway through which we must pass before expanding our knowledge of unknown worlds. Furthermore and...

www.coralmorphologic.com

Here is his email:
Hi Ron,

So sorry that I wasn't able to make it to MACNA and give my talk. I hope to give this talk at a future event... maybe at RAP Orlando or again at MACNA next year. Thanks for sharing that R2R thread link... I have only read the first and last pages, but it was really great to see. I can corroborate pretty much everything that SymbiontSam added to it. I was actually glad to see it, because it confirms my observations that while RFA are either male or female on any given spawning, but it seems that they can switch sex and spawn as male or female in the next spawning season. I have RFAs in my Caribbean biotope that I documented as egg-brooding females, only to be releasing sperm a year later. I had not read that scientific paper he cited, so it was really helpful to have confirmed!

Just as the research papers observed, I have found that a tank full of flower anemones will likely spawn naturally whether you are trying to get them to or not. But I have found that when they have some indirect sunlight they seem to synchronize a bit better to their natural cycle. Down here in Miami it seems the males tend to release their sperm together in the later afternoon/early evening in the Spring (April-June). Females brood their fertilized eggs for a couple of months before they give birth to fully formed babies. These can be target fed w freeze dried zooplankton (like TLF ZoPlan) or newly hatched brine shrimp to help them get a head start. It looks like you've done really well with your collection even without any special feeding for the babies! As an aside, I've found that anemone shrimp and sexy shrimp often irritate these anemones more than help them. I think the shrimp eat some of the mucous off the anemones which it doesn't appreciate over the long term. In the wild perhaps there is more food for the shrimp and this behavior isn't as irritating.

I've also found that while the babies can be in a variety of morphs, there does seem to be genetic component that is passed down. Most of the 'ultras' that give birth have red/orange/green babies, whereas the more common white morphs tend to give birth to white babies. Why are white morphs more common in the shallowest water amongst the similarly colored rocks, while green ones are abundant in the shallow seagrass/rubble, and the red ones are more common in deeper water on the reef? Still a very interesting question! I have found shallow water, seagrass/rubble sites that have a lot of red morphs as well, so it isn't a hard and fast rule. But the 'deep water' ones (really only coming from 20-30 feet) are living amongst a lot of red macroalgae and sponges where they do blend in pretty well. Sediment frequently piles up on their oral discs obscuring the brighter colors. But there does seem to be an overlap between color morph and habitat. Maybe they have predators (sea turtles?) that use their eyes to feed on them, which would make it more likely for the survivors to blend in well and match their surroundings. What predates on RFAs in the wild? Couldn't tell you, never seen it. Sea turtles eat corallimorphs and jellyfish, so I wouldn't put it past them to also try and eat RFA's. Being able to fully retract into a rock or sediment is definitely their best protective move after their stinging tentacles.

One of the more odd things I've seen happen with RFA's, which I can't be 100% certain of, is that I think the two-faced morphs may be chimeras. But I think that not only can they fuse together while still being brooded in their mother, but I believe that adults are capable of fusing together as well. Years ago we observed this happen overnight in one of our tanks where it sure as hell seemed like they fused together... we definitely would have remembered collecting a two-faced RFA! Something worth experimenting with in the future.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Colin

 

[saltyhog]

Great post Colin! Thank you for going to the trouble to do that.

@Ron Reefman do you feed your RFA's? If so how often. I don't feed mine often at all, just when there is a piece of food too big for my fish. It does look like they get food out of the water column every time I feed.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Great post Colin! Thank you for going to the trouble to do that.

@Ron Reefman do you feed your RFA's? If so how often. I don't feed mine often at all, just when there is a piece of food too big for my fish. It does look like they get food out of the water column every time I feed.

@saltyhog, I do feed them. I shut off all pumps and use a turkey baster to spray a variety of food at them. I also use the same assortment of food to feed the fish. I don't feed them big items, but that's just me. I don't think that would be a problem. When I feed them I wait 5 to 10 minutes, until they open back up before I turn the pumps back on. I do this once every week or two.

I do see some of the bigger nems closing up on food when I just feed the fish as well. But I only have 4 fish, so I don't feed very much. That's part of why I specifically spot feed them. Also, I don't think they do photosynthesis as well as the far less colorful RFA's that are found in far shallower water (where they get a lot more sunlight). But so far, I haven't seen any science to back up my personal experience (hunch!).

 

[saltyhog]

@saltyhog, I do feed them. I shut off all pumps and use a turkey baster to spray a variety of food at them. I also use the same assortment of food to feed the fish. I don't feed them big items, but that's just me. I don't think that would be a problem. When I feed them I wait 5 to 10 minutes, until they open back up before I turn the pumps back on. I do this once every week or two.

I do see some of the bigger nems closing up on food when I just feed the fish as well. But I only have 4 fish, so I don't feed very much. That's part of why I specifically spot feed them. Also, I don't think they do photosynthesis as well as the far less colorful RFA's that are found in far shallower water (where they get a lot more sunlight). But so far, I haven't seen any science to back up my personal experience (hunch!).

I have 18 fish and feed the equivalent of about 6 cubes of frozen a day. They close up on food all the time when feeding the fish. The chunks I feed intentionally are about as big as my pinkie nail. Most of my RFA's are 6" plus in diameter.

Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a no-no! ;Happy

 

[Ron Reefman]

I feed the fish one cube and a bit of flake food and some small amounts of other food every other day! We are at opposite ends of that spectrum! I suspect your nems are getting enough to eat.

Have yours ever spawned in the tank? If they are that big, they should be mature enough. And Colin Foord thinks they can even change sex if they need to!

 

[SymbiontSam]

@SymbiontSam, Samuel, I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to see you here! After all this time I had given up hope... ;Dead. You saw my tank in December 2018. I've bought a few new RFA, I've collected a couple in the Keys (including a blue one I think is kind of rare) and I've had another round of reproduction so now I have about 40 to 45 RFA in a 2'x2'x20" tank! I'm now building a DIY 3'x30"x20" 90g tank with more than double the open sand for RFA.

Hope to see you at MACNA!

I am so sorry I have been thinking about this for a while now! But, I have just started to stock my tank with rock flower anemones over the last month. Wow! That's a lot of RFAs. You must have the perfect environment for them. Looking forward to seeing the new tank!

I collected a few RFAs while I was in the Florida Keys this past week. Looking forward to posting photos of them!

Here is his email:
Hi Ron,

So sorry that I wasn't able to make it to MACNA and give my talk. I hope to give this talk at a future event... maybe at RAP Orlando or again at MACNA next year. Thanks for sharing that R2R thread link... I have only read the first and last pages, but it was really great to see. I can corroborate pretty much everything that SymbiontSam added to it. I was actually glad to see it, because it confirms my observations that while RFA are either male or female on any given spawning, but it seems that they can switch sex and spawn as male or female in the next spawning season. I have RFAs in my Caribbean biotope that I documented as egg-brooding females, only to be releasing sperm a year later. I had not read that scientific paper he cited, so it was really helpful to have confirmed!

Just as the research papers observed, I have found that a tank full of flower anemones will likely spawn naturally whether you are trying to get them to or not. But I have found that when they have some indirect sunlight they seem to synchronize a bit better to their natural cycle. Down here in Miami it seems the males tend to release their sperm together in the later afternoon/early evening in the Spring (April-June). Females brood their fertilized eggs for a couple of months before they give birth to fully formed babies. These can be target fed w freeze dried zooplankton (like TLF ZoPlan) or newly hatched brine shrimp to help them get a head start. It looks like you've done really well with your collection even without any special feeding for the babies! As an aside, I've found that anemone shrimp and sexy shrimp often irritate these anemones more than help them. I think the shrimp eat some of the mucous off the anemones which it doesn't appreciate over the long term. In the wild perhaps there is more food for the shrimp and this behavior isn't as irritating.

I've also found that while the babies can be in a variety of morphs, there does seem to be genetic component that is passed down. Most of the 'ultras' that give birth have red/orange/green babies, whereas the more common white morphs tend to give birth to white babies. Why are white morphs more common in the shallowest water amongst the similarly colored rocks, while green ones are abundant in the shallow seagrass/rubble, and the red ones are more common in deeper water on the reef? Still a very interesting question! I have found shallow water, seagrass/rubble sites that have a lot of red morphs as well, so it isn't a hard and fast rule. But the 'deep water' ones (really only coming from 20-30 feet) are living amongst a lot of red macroalgae and sponges where they do blend in pretty well. Sediment frequently piles up on their oral discs obscuring the brighter colors. But there does seem to be an overlap between color morph and habitat. Maybe they have predators (sea turtles?) that use their eyes to feed on them, which would make it more likely for the survivors to blend in well and match their surroundings. What predates on RFAs in the wild? Couldn't tell you, never seen it. Sea turtles eat corallimorphs and jellyfish, so I wouldn't put it past them to also try and eat RFA's. Being able to fully retract into a rock or sediment is definitely their best protective move after their stinging tentacles.

One of the more odd things I've seen happen with RFA's, which I can't be 100% certain of, is that I think the two-faced morphs may be chimeras. But I think that not only can they fuse together while still being brooded in their mother, but I believe that adults are capable of fusing together as well. Years ago we observed this happen overnight in one of our tanks where it sure as hell seemed like they fused together... we definitely would have remembered collecting a two-faced RFA! Something worth experimenting with in the future.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Colin

Thank you for contacting Colin! This is really great information. I am glad he can corroborate the observations from the articles.

It's odd that there is a 1:1 sex ratio even though they likely can change sex. Usually the ratio is skewed if individuals are hermaphroditic. I wonder if it's age specific or size specific.

I agree that the "deepwater = brightly colored" is probably not completely true. While collecting anemones last week in 1-2 foot water I found approximately 5% of individuals were red or purple. They stood out on the light substrate as compared to the lighter color morphs. It's likely that most of the predators or parasites of these anemones do not care about camouflage in this habitat. Sea turtles may eat them in deeper water, but I doubt turtles would be able to access the habitat we were in. The most common predators of anemones in this habitat are probably sea spiders (pycnogonida), nudibranchs, or wentletrap snails. However a new "predator" may be aquarists, which would respond to camouflage!

I have seen photos of RFA chimeras, and I always thought they developed at an embryonic stage as other chimeras do. Definitely interested to know if anyone else has observed something like this!

Below are a few photos of my fairly new aquarium. The aquariums are built into a table I bought off craigslist. They are a little sparsely stocked right now, but I am planning on filling one with RFAs!

Samuel

 

[Brandon Smith]

Wow, this has so many answers I was looking for in one place. I have only read the first and last page, so I can't even imagine what I will learn reading the whole thread.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Wow, this has so many answers I was looking for in one place. I have only read the first and last page, so I can't even imagine what I will learn reading the whole thread.

Hi Bradon, glad to have you along for the ride. I'm hoping that both @SymbiontSam and Colin Foord will help us out with more scientific data as we all learn more about RFA specifically and anemones in general. And some of my experience is from seeing and collecting some of the shallow water RFA when we go snorkeling in the Keys.

You might like that thread as well. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/snorkeling-collecting-discussion-group.412414/

 

[Grape_City_Reefer]

Nobody else has any links to a seller for really good looking RFA's? Come on now, help a guy out here. Please!

I know this was an older posting, however I have been keeping my eyes on Tidal Gardens near Akron Ohio. The owner and his family were very nice and super informative to my fiancee(now wife) and I who were only 3-4 months into the hobby. The aqua-cultured corals were stunning, he just finished his new facility for coral growing. He was wanting to offer more anemones when we talked with him last. So I would recommend keeping an eye on what he has to offer. He has a nice BTA right now as of yesterday.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I know this was an older posting, however I have been keeping my eyes on Tidal Gardens near Akron Ohio. The owner and his family were very nice and super informative to my fiancee(now wife) and I who were only 3-4 months into the hobby. The aqua-cultured corals were stunning, he just finished his new facility for coral growing. He was wanting to offer more anemones when we talked with him last. So I would recommend keeping an eye on what he has to offer. He has a nice BTA right now as of yesterday.

Thanks for the lead @Grape_City_Reefer , I'll take a look at them. And I'm in no rush to buy as I'm in the process of doing a new DIY 90g tank so I have more room for RFA's and other corals that fluoresce well. My current 40g cube is over flowing with corals right now. I even set up a 16g holding tank to keep the over flow livestock! This is from January, about 9 months ago!

 

[Grape_City_Reefer]

Thanks for the lead @Grape_City_Reefer , I'll take a look at them. And I'm in no rush to buy as I'm in the process of doing a new DIY 90g tank so I have more room for RFA's and other corals that fluoresce well. My current 40g cube is over flowing with corals right now. I even set up a 16g holding tank to keep the over flow livestock! This is from January, about 9 months ago!

One other thing I like about Tidal Gardens is that he post the available livestock under different lighting scenarios, acitinic, 10k, etc.

 

[Tihsho]

@SymbiontSam how do you get gas exchange in that setup with glass covering the top of the aquarium completely? Also, where does the over flow go as there is nothing below the table?

 

[Ron Reefman]

@SymbiontSam how do you get gas exchange in that setup with glass covering the top of the aquarium completely? Also, where does the over flow go as there is nothing below the table?

I don't mean to speak for Samuel, but he is 'on the road' and/or visiting family right now. If I'm lucky, he will be stopping by my house on Thursday to see my tank and discuss anemones.

As for his table tanks, each one has an overflow, so it seems the water is going somewhere. And at the back edge of the table, between the table and the wall, I see some mangrove leaves sticking out??? Maybe there is a sump/refugium at the back of the table or even through the wall in the next room? If @SymbiontSam hasn't replied, I'll ask him to when I see him.

 

[Tihsho]

Good eye @Ron Reefman ! I didn't even see the Mangroves popping out. Initially I thought the overflow might have been a simple closed system where the overflow lead to a chamber in the table between the glass tops and just used for circulation and surface skimming. Based on your observations though, it looks like there may be a little sump against the wall or just a small refugium.