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Two heads better than One? Conjoined twin rock flower anemone babies (!...?)


LazyFish

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I made a post a few days ago in My IM 20g flower flower farm that Something was funky with one of the baby RFA born in the tank.....I realize how rare this would be & how improbable to find in the tank so I'm still not 100% that this is actually what it is.......Anyway....

I think it is a Siamese twin with two heads! I'm about 85-90% sure. I saw a post on another form about an adult green RFA someone bought that would not attach because it had a parasitic twin attached to its foot so a Siamese twin would have to be just as possible. Its soooo small its very hard for me to tell 100% at this point. (if it isn't it's still strange & interesting that they would hold onto each other like that) At first I thought it was just two that were holding onto one another but after very gently trying to get them to separate & watching hem attach & hold on with what looks like the same oddly oval shaped foot I do think this is what I have going on....Even stranger they started out pure white but seem to be developing color at different rates. One has a brown/orange face & the other is whitish. I'm starting this thread to keep track of its development & health to see if it is actually two & if it separates. Its so tiny I'm hoping I don't loose it. I wonder if they will develop different colors & if its male or female or both!  I estimate that it is about a week old. The heads are about half the size of one of its siblings from this same batch one is slightly smaller than the other but the foot is about the same size as the others.

 

Ok interesting I found ANOTHER "twin" & this time there is no question what this one is. It is larger about twice the size of this one with both heads the same color two heads one body. One is head a little smaller than the other one. They are the same color & closer together that is why I did not notice before. What genetic oddness is going on in this tank..? Most of my rfa are sourced from different places at different times & none of the adults were born in this tank & there so I don't think its inbreeding.

Siamese twin(?) #1

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Siamese twin #2

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They seem to grow rather slow but I plan on putting updates every few weeks to show growth & color development.

Out of the 15 that I have found so far from the two spawns two have been Siamese. I wonder if the female will spit out anymore I don't think she is done. I find a baby here & there every few days. I'm not even sure what one is the mother. I know I have at least 3 females in this tank with 15 adult RFA Only 4 are known to be males so I have no idea what one is the mother of these mutants. I'm hoping to find out. I plan to move these two to my 7g florida biotope once they grow to nickle size. I may put the other juveniles in with them IDK yet...

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I thought I lost the smaller one this evening it went for a walk again & ended up under a rock. I ended up taking the whole tray out so that I could find it.....The little one seems slightly suicidal...

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The smaller one keeps crawling under things I haven't seen it in two days I'm going to keep looking the larger One hasn't changed at all yet I'm hoping it will get some color soon.

Guy at the lfs told me one in every few thousand in the wild has a mutation like this but he has never seen it on a tank grown nem. Unable to confirm this. Guy at other store has never heard of it.

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  • 4 months later...

I lost the smallest one it disappeared. The larger one is still alive but is probly 1-3 of an inch in size others from the same batch are about 1-2 an inch.... These are growing so slow..... Perhaps two heads needs more food... I'll try increasing its intake and will move it to another tank for grow out with its siblings. The color is still drab but it seems to have a hint of orange or red now hope it gets better looking. 

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  • 3 years later...

Resurrecting this 4 years after the first ones I had found vanished. I've found another. This one is slightly larger than the others I found. Its is suicidal I've put it in nem jail to keep it contained I beleive the heads will probly eventualy merge into one. Probly like the chimera 2 face rfa. I'm wondering if this is actualy how they start out as a conjoined twin that merges. I'm going to try to grow it out hopfully It wont get away and die on me.

 

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I still have it it wanders twice as much as any of the other baby nems lol. It is still in nem jail. They look brown with my camera but under straight blue lights one side flouresses green and the other orange. It looks like the tentacle between them is fat possibly fused together.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's starting to grow and show some color now. The one with orange appears to be half green aswell it looks like the green from the conjoined head is bleeding over. I know these things like to cluster and be near other rfa so I tossed in 2 other babies a yellow and an orange. It seems to have slowed down roaming around a bit now.

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  • 7 months later...

I still have this thing and its growing but slowly. The orange one next to it I beleive was from the same batch. The big orange one and the striped one are a few months older. The growth seems to be finaly picking up. I thi k the bigger ones are taking most of the food I give them cant seem to make them move. The one big fat tentacle is fused between the heads but they are not absorbing into one another like I thought they might.

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This is the third one I've gotten in this tank. This is the longest I've been able to keep one alive it's like these things wana die. All the baby rfa are bad about that but these move around even more than the others when they are small.

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