Boxer crab anemone
Triactis producta
Also known as Triactis anemone, Pom-pom crab anemone
SaltwaterAnemone
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–81°F
- 24–27°C
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- Adult size
- 1.2 in
- 3 cm
- Minimum tank
- 11 gal
- 40 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Social
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Medium
- Rarity
- Rare
- Reef safe
- Reef safe with caution
- Family
- Aliciidae
- Origin
- Shallow reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and Mozambique to Hawaii and French Polynesia
Overview
The boxer crab anemone is a small reef anemone for a nano tank. In aquariums it usually arrives in the claws of a boxer crab rather than on its own. It suits a keeper with some experience.
Did you know
The boxer crab anemone is the anemone that boxer crabs wear as boxing gloves. A crab of the genus Lybia holds one in each claw and waves them at anything that comes close.
Caring for the boxer crab anemone
Give the boxer crab anemone a nano reef of at least 11 gal (40 L), with strong reef lighting, gentle flow and live rock. Keep no fish or shrimp that pick at anemones.
Keep the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. An anemone living on its own needs a piece of meaty food once a week. On a crab it stays under 0.3 in (8 mm) tall, because the crab takes most of its food.
Give a free-living anemone room, because it stings any coral it settles against. Keep bare skin away from it as well.
A crab that loses one anemone tears the other in two. Each half grows back into a whole anemone, so the crab ends up with a pair again.
Good to know
The boxer crab anemone, Triactis producta, belongs to the family Aliciidae. A free-living animal has a base about 0.4 in (1 cm) across, a column around 0.6 in (1.5 cm) tall and some 50 long tentacles. A ring of branching pseudotentacles part way up the column holds its zooxanthellae. By day it retracts the tentacles and spreads the pseudotentacles to the light. At night it extends the tentacles to catch small invertebrates. Its sting is strong for an anemone this size, and a touch can leave a swollen, blistered lesion that lasts for weeks.
In the wild
The boxer crab anemone lives in shallow water across the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and Mozambique to Hawaii and French Polynesia. It wedges into crevices and among the branches of stony corals. Free-living animals often sit in dense clusters that are probably clones.
Symbiotic relationships
The boxer crab and its anemones
The boxer crab holds a tiny anemone in each claw and waves them at anything that comes close, the way a boxer holds up gloves. The anemones sting for the crab and mop up food particles, and the crab clips food from them to eat. Boxer crabs that lose one anemone have been filmed tearing the other in two, and both halves grow back into a whole anemone, so the crab is farming its weapons. The anemones seem to get nothing but a lifetime of being waved about.
A nano reef animal about an inch (2.5 cm) across that spends much of the day under rock. It is harmless to corals and fish and needs nothing special beyond stable water and no predators. The anemones arrive in its claws and need no care of their own; a crab sold as a pom-pom crab carries Triactis producta or, from the Red Sea, an Alicia. Do not confuse it with the freshwater pom pom crab in this catalog, which has fluffy claws and no anemones at all.
Common questions
What size tank does a boxer crab anemone need?
A boxer crab anemone needs at least 11 gal (40 L).
What temperature and pH does a boxer crab anemone need?
A boxer crab anemone is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.
What does a boxer crab anemone eat?
A boxer crab anemone living on its own needs a piece of meaty food once a week. One carried by a crab gets little, since the crab takes most of its food.
How big does a boxer crab anemone get?
An adult boxer crab anemone reaches about 1.2 in (3 cm).
How does a boxer crab anemone breed?
A boxer crab anemone can be split in two. When a crab loses one anemone, it tears the other in half, and each half grows back into a whole anemone.