Wiz
2500 Club Member
I recently bought an anemone that I cannot identify. There is a post about it if anybody is interested in helping. I will attached a vid for a quick view. After searching and searching and searching I came across a college biology Professor who specialized in anemones and has written multiple books on the subject. I decided it might be worth a shot to contact this professor and see if she might help.
No I probably should have had an idea that she might not be able to help me because of the distinct differences between scientists and hobbyists. But I thought even getting the scientific name would be a great help. And to be a hundred percent honest I was half thinking I would not get a response anyway.
To my surprise I got a response the very next morning. Turns out she was retired but was willing to give me her perspective anyway. Most of it was exactly what I should have thought it would be. "I have no idea about common names I only go by scientific names and I cannot help." That was served up to me with a nice story about what makes common name so horrible. She said she has seen anemones similar to the pictures I sent but could not identify the specific name. That was all fine and dandy until the very last paragraph of her letter which bothered me tremendously.
"Best wishes. Most tropical anemones do not do well in captivity - the ones that do are the ones we regard as weeds and want to be rid of! That is one reason I am not an aquarist."
My anemones are doing just fine. All 9 of them now. Some more than four or five years old. And they are beautiful. I have to admit I was a bit offended by her statement. I sent her back another email thanking her for her attempt at help and explaining my love for anemones and a bunch of pictures of my babies. LOL
The only thing I can hope is that she is a bit out of touch being that she's already retired. Do you guys think that current biologists would look at the aquarium Hobby in this way? Not that they are offended by it because I could totally see that in their line of work. But that we only breed the weeds. And that anemonies do not do well in captivity.
Just figured I'd share and see if you guys had any opinions on this.
No I probably should have had an idea that she might not be able to help me because of the distinct differences between scientists and hobbyists. But I thought even getting the scientific name would be a great help. And to be a hundred percent honest I was half thinking I would not get a response anyway.
To my surprise I got a response the very next morning. Turns out she was retired but was willing to give me her perspective anyway. Most of it was exactly what I should have thought it would be. "I have no idea about common names I only go by scientific names and I cannot help." That was served up to me with a nice story about what makes common name so horrible. She said she has seen anemones similar to the pictures I sent but could not identify the specific name. That was all fine and dandy until the very last paragraph of her letter which bothered me tremendously.
"Best wishes. Most tropical anemones do not do well in captivity - the ones that do are the ones we regard as weeds and want to be rid of! That is one reason I am not an aquarist."
My anemones are doing just fine. All 9 of them now. Some more than four or five years old. And they are beautiful. I have to admit I was a bit offended by her statement. I sent her back another email thanking her for her attempt at help and explaining my love for anemones and a bunch of pictures of my babies. LOL
The only thing I can hope is that she is a bit out of touch being that she's already retired. Do you guys think that current biologists would look at the aquarium Hobby in this way? Not that they are offended by it because I could totally see that in their line of work. But that we only breed the weeds. And that anemonies do not do well in captivity.
Just figured I'd share and see if you guys had any opinions on this.
