Malu Anemone (Heteractis malu) Breeding Guide

Heteractis malu is a sand-dwelling host anemone for Clark's clownfish. Like other Heteractis it can split by scissiparity, but its sexual reproduction releases pelagic larvae and cannot be completed in a home aquarium.

Overview

Heteractis malu, the delicate or Malu anemone, occurs in scattered areas from Japan in the north to Australia in the south, east to the Hawaiian Islands and west to Sumatra. It has stout, sparse tentacles almost always under 40 mm long, usually tipped with magenta, on an oral disc up to 200 mm in diameter that is brown or purplish, sometimes with a white radial pattern; the cream-to-yellow column stays buried in sediment up to the oral disc. The only anemonefish associated with this species is Clark's anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii).

Reproductive Mode

Detailed reproductive observations specific to H. malu are limited in the consulted source, which notes that sexually mature Clark's anemonefish are rarely associated with it for unknown reasons. As a member of the host-anemone group, it reproduces by the same general modes documented for sea anemones: sexual gamete release into the water and asexual division.

Asexual Propagation by Fission

Sea anemones can reproduce asexually by splitting, producing genetically identical clones from a single founder. For Heteractis species this scissiparity is the only pathway that could plausibly occur in a closed system, but H. malu is not noted as a frequent spontaneous splitter.

Sexual Reproduction

Sexual reproduction in sea anemones releases gametes into the water; fertilization yields swimming planula larvae that disperse before settling. This pelagic larval phase cannot be completed in a home aquarium, so sexual reproduction of H. malu is confined to the wild or specialised culture.