TankBud

Curlyque anemone

Bartholomea annulata

Also known as Corkscrew Anemone, Curly-Cue Anemone, Ringed Anemone, Curlique Anemone

SaltwaterAnemone

Curlyque anemone (Bartholomea annulata)
Ricardo González-Muñoz, Nuno Simões, José Luis Tello-Musi, Estefanía Rodríguez · CC BY 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–81°F
24–27°C
pH
8.0–8.4
Adult size
5.9 in
15 cm
Minimum tank
20 gal
75 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Bottom
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
No record
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe with caution
Family
Aiptasiidae
Origin
Caribbean and western Atlantic, in reef crevices and seagrass on shallow reefs.

Overview

Keep it in a tank of 75 litres or more at 24 to 27 C and pH 8.0 to 8.4 with moderate light and flow, and feed it chopped meaty foods a few times a week. It is hardy and easy to keep alive, but its sting is potent and its tentacles reach farther than they look, so give corals plenty of space. Pair it with Pederson or other anemone shrimp for a natural cleaning display.

In the wild

The curlyque anemone has long, semi-transparent tentacles marked with spiraling corkscrew bands of white. It anchors its base in a rock crevice and can inflate its tentacles out to 5 to 8 cm or deflate to a small blob in seconds. It is a Caribbean cousin of the pest Aiptasia and shares their weedy toughness.

Good to know

Bartholomea annulata is famous on Caribbean reefs for hosting cleaner shrimp, especially Pederson's cleaner shrimp, which set up cleaning stations at its base. The spiral bands on its tentacles are packed with stinging cells.

Did you know

On the reef it runs a cleaning station, sheltering shrimp that pick parasites off visiting fish in exchange for the anemone's protection.

Symbiotic relationships

Shrimp and crabs that live in anemones

Several small crustaceans live where almost nothing else can: among the tentacles of an anemone. Sexy shrimp perch in the tentacles in a cluster, bobbing their tails in the display that named them. The white-spot anemone shrimp is near transparent apart from its spots and lives on carpet anemones. The porcelain anemone crab sits at the anemone's edge and filters plankton from the water with two fan-like arms. Pederson's cleaner shrimp lives in the Caribbean corkscrew anemone and cleans fish from there. In every case the anemone is a bodyguard: its sting keeps off the small fish that would eat the shrimp. The anemone gains little, and the white-spot shrimp will nibble its host's tentacles when it is hungry.

Give each of them its anemone. Sexy shrimp take a rock flower anemone, a bubble tip or a carpet. The white-spot shrimp and the porcelain crab want a carpet anemone or a long tentacle anemone, both of which need a mature tank at the tank size their profiles list. Pederson's shrimp wants a corkscrew anemone or a condy. Without a host they perch on a coral or hide in the rock and are picked off by any fish that eats shrimp, so they suit a peaceful nano reef. A clownfish will evict them from an anemone it has claimed.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Common questions

What size tank does a Curlyque anemone need?

A Curlyque anemone needs at least 20 gal (75 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a Curlyque anemone need?

A Curlyque anemone is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.0–8.4.

How big does a Curlyque anemone get?

An adult Curlyque anemone reaches about 5.9 in (15 cm).

Related species