Tube Anemone

I just got a nice tube anemone yesterday. It is really pretty and cool looking. I was just wondering how they reproduced and their direction of growth.

 

I have no idea about reproduction (but it is sexual... not by asexual means) but ours is old... and he's still a singleton.

Their diameter gets thicker and their tentacles get larger. Basically he'll be a bigger version of what you have now. How big is yours now?

 

Tube is ~9" long. The nem, when open, is ~3" ride.

 

i have heard that they reproduce sexually and asexually,(splitting and mating), but could have just been false information

 

Actually it looks like makeshiftcrew did a write-up on it. Good information there too: http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/long-tube-anemone-ceriantharia-100182.html

"I also want to talk about reproduction within this group, but any such discussion is hampered by the fact that there has been precious little research done on this subject. The species that have been studied are protandric hermaphrodites, meaning that small or young individuals are males, and the animal switches to being a female at some point in their lives (possibly triggered by some size or age threshold). Sexual reproduction apparently occurs by the release of gametes into the water column. There are several reports of a tiny tube anemone being found within the body cavity of an adult, but it is unclear whether this is evidence for internal brooding or an aberrant developmental pathway. Likewise, there is some evidence that these animals are capable of reproducing asexually, but to date there is no evidence that this has occurred in an aquarium. Regardless of the exact method of reproduction, the chances that your tube anemone will reproduce in captivity arent very good."

-From above mentioned post by MakeShiftCrew

 

What, no pictures yet, xmetalfan? :

 

Just ordered one myself. Following along.

 

PICS plz....