Over at RC, we had a good dialogue going about bleached S. Gigantea and Zooxanthella transplants. Nobody has ever done a controlled study, but there's been a handful of reefers who have reported successful Zooxanthella transplants. Or at least the evidence seems to point in that direction. Minh gave a brief description of what exactly Zooxanthella is and how it functions in the anemone. I'll be honest, I was a little foggy in this area and enjoyed reading this short comment. I figured I would post it because I feel this is great information.
"Zooxanthellae are not something the anemones produce. These are symbiotic micro-organisms, a dinoflagellate, that obligatory live in anemones. They cannot live outside of the anemone for long. Anemones cannot produce this symbiotic organism de novo. They have to start with at least one single one before re-population can begin. This group of organisms can only live in the anemone, coral, or other photosynthetic inverterbrates. They are available in the water briefly when for some reason the inverterbrates expell them into the invironment. If they don't get into another inverterbrate, they will not last too long. IMO, this is the reason why a completely bleached anemone will not regain its color easily. Most bleached anemones (even completely white under our eyes) that still have a small Zooxanthellae population will color up without help, but the anemone that is completely bleached will rarely- if ever- color up again by itself. IMO, if three months have passed with optimal care and the color does not come back, this qualifies the anemone as completely bleached in my book."
"Zooxanthellae are not something the anemones produce. These are symbiotic micro-organisms, a dinoflagellate, that obligatory live in anemones. They cannot live outside of the anemone for long. Anemones cannot produce this symbiotic organism de novo. They have to start with at least one single one before re-population can begin. This group of organisms can only live in the anemone, coral, or other photosynthetic inverterbrates. They are available in the water briefly when for some reason the inverterbrates expell them into the invironment. If they don't get into another inverterbrate, they will not last too long. IMO, this is the reason why a completely bleached anemone will not regain its color easily. Most bleached anemones (even completely white under our eyes) that still have a small Zooxanthellae population will color up without help, but the anemone that is completely bleached will rarely- if ever- color up again by itself. IMO, if three months have passed with optimal care and the color does not come back, this qualifies the anemone as completely bleached in my book."
