by Ret Talbot with Photography by Mark Martin
December 2008 in Tropical Fish Hobbyist
 Red Ricordea yuma (pictured above) is the rarest of all the Ricordea species, and it makes a dramatic display in any invertebrate or reef tank. This semi-aggressive, bulbous and brightly colored animal is sometimes called red rose ricordea, coral anemone, disc anemone, or stubby Anemone. This animal has characteristic short, berry-shaped tentacles like other Ricordea species, but it is the color that makes this specific animal so highly sought-after. Red Ricordea yuma requires higher lighting than most other mushrooms in order to increase growth and maintain its beautiful color, and it will intensify with supplemental actinic and metal halide lighting (although the animal must be placed toward the bottom of the aquarium under metal halide lights). This animal can be easily fragmented by the aquarist to begin new colonies. It prefers low flow, and while it is mostly photosynthetic owing to its symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae), Ricordea yuma appreciates....
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To read the entire article, please purchase the December 2008 issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist by clicking here. Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine is the best source of accurate, fascinating, up-to-the-minute information on the aquarium hobby, from small freshwater tanks to wall-sized reef tanks and even beautifully landscaped garden ponds.
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Ret collaborated with his friend Mark Martin, who is also the co-author of Ret's book The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Saltwater Aquarium, on this piece. Mark provided the photography and his immense knowledge of Jakarta (all the animals featured in the article are commonly imported at this time of year from Jakarta), and Ret wrote the descriptions of the animals based on his own experience keeping them. In addition to the red Ricordea Yuma (the above article excerpt), the following species are profiled in the piece:
- Green Bubble Coral (Plerogyra simplex)
- Blue-Tip Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia Jardinei)
- Red Blasto (Blastomussa wellsi)
- Blueberry Gorgonian (Acalycigorgia spp.)
- Fu Manchu Lionfish (Dendrochirus biocellatus)
- Electric Blue Paly (Palythoa spp.)
PHOTO: Mark Martin
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