Bubbletip Anemone

[Samw]

My very first bubbletip anemone. Purchased on Dec 3, 2001. Has doubled in size since then.

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/2002-03.Album/Bubbletip2.jpg

[pocilipora]

Where are the bubbles?

[Samw]

Hm, are you asking me why they are called Bubble-Tips or are you asking me why the tentacles are so long???

The Bubble-Tips are more prominent when the lights are off and the tentacles contract.

[StirCrazy]

I think he is asking why there are no bubble tips on it at all smile.gif

Steve

[pocilipora]

There are no bubble tips.

[Samw]

I've read that its normal for bubbletip anemones in captivity to lose their bubbletips.

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25772&highlight=bubbl etip (http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25772&highlight=bubbletip)

It looks the same as others that I've seen on the Internet.

For example, Andrew's is here

http://www3.telus.net/my_universe/images/bta-clowns2.jpg

So are these the bubbletips/bulbs that you are talking about? This is a picture of the my anemone at night time from the other side of the tank.

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/2002-03.Album/BubbletipTips.jpg

[ 05 April 2002, 22:05: Message edited by: Sam W ]

[Delphinus]

The long and the short of it is sometimes the tentacles bubble up and sometimes they don't. You can have two clonal anemones, side by side, so a situation where two individuals identical in genetics and experiencing nearly identical environmental conditions, and one could bubble up, and the other not.

I don't beleive it is either good, or bad ... in the same vein that it is neither good, nor bad to have a blue car as opposed to a red car. Individuality....

However, that said, I personally do beleive that lighting could be a factor. If you look at the ratio of surface area to volume of a sphere as compared to other shapes such as a cylinder or a cone, for example ... plus in my own experience over the last three years of keeping this species I have noticed more bubble-tips in times of higher lighting over times of lower lighting. When my tank was 3wpg I never saw bubble-tips except after feeding. When my tank was >10 wpg I almost always saw bubble-tips. Now that my tank is 7wpg I see bubble-tips about 50% of the time.

FWIW, of course. I can't offer any objective proof, only speculative reasoning. Thus as with in all cases YMMV and dealer may sell for less...

This topic (among others) was talked to death a few months ago at RC in the unassumingly titled thread "what dose an annime eat?" As I recall the thread gets rather heated at times and it's only towards the end of the thread that the bubble-tips come into discussion. (Man that was a great thread and although it's long I urge anyone interested in anemones take the time to read it, there is some GREAT info in there and it really illustrates the many different approaches people have taken over the years.)

Reef Central Thread: what dose an annime eat?? (http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52959)

[ 05 April 2002, 23:20: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[Delphinus]

I should also mention that the bubble-tips are when the tentacles are retracted, and the long and thin is obviously when they are extended. Thus you may sometimes see bubble-tips at night, when the anemone is at less expansion. Or perhaps when the anemone is hungry and participating in a sort of "facultative predation" (ie., hunting for a stray morsel) that the tentacles are elongated. Just some more speculation, it's late, I'm tired and I know I'm babbling but this is actually a topic I find very interesting...

cheers

[ 05 April 2002, 23:19: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[George]

Well, to add to confusion, even in one anemone, some tips have bubble and some don't. As it demonstrates in this photo:
http://personal.smartt.com/~georgex/reef/pictures/07012001/bubble_anemone2.jpg

George

[Samw]

Me Too. Here's some Bubbles/No Bubbles shots.

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/2002-04.Album/BubbletipTips2.jpg

http://www.hyperdream.com/~samw/reef/2002-04.Album/BubbletipTips.jpg