Club-tipped Anemone aka Strawberry Anemone
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia
Order: Corallimorpharia
Family: Corallimorphidae
Genus/species: Corynactis californica
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Typically red or orange-pink, occasionally purple, yellow, buff, brown or nearly white.
Corallimorphs are not true anemones. Tentacles end in knobs (club-tipped tentacles) and are not fully retractile, usually being white. Corallimorphs are also very similar to corals in some other characters, but lack the hard coral skeleton. Found in groups, with individuals up to 2 cm (0.8 inches) long (average height and diameter is 1 cm (0.4 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico. Habitat: Colonies abundant from the low rocky intertidal to 30 m (98 feet).
DIET IN THE WILD: C. californica captures prey by extruding mesenterial filaments onto its prey which are used for digestion and absorption of food in the coelenteron. If the prey is too large to take into the coelenteron, the mesenterial filaments are used to digest it externally. They are carnivores consuming copepods, crustacean larvae and other zooplankton.
REPRODUCTION: Asexual by fission and budding resulting in a dense cluster of clones.
REMARKS: The presence of aggregations of C. californica increase the density of rock oysters and mussels by protecting them from predatory sea stars.
California Coastal Marine Reef Exhibit
References
California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium 2016
Ron's flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/2996776409/in/set-72157...
Ron's Wordpress wp.me/p1DZ4b-1l0
eol eol.org/pages/1006944/details
U. of Michigan ADW animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Corynactis_califo...
Walla Walla University www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/...
9-3-14 10-10-16
Club-tipped Anemone aka Strawberry Anemone
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia
Order: Corallimorpharia
Family: Corallimorphidae
Genus/species: Corynactis californica
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Typically red or orange-pink, occasionally purple, yellow, buff, brown or nearly white.
Corallimorphs are not true anemones. Tentacles end in knobs (club-tipped tentacles) and are not fully retractile, usually being white. Corallimorphs are also very similar to corals in some other characters, but lack the hard coral skeleton. Found in groups, with individuals up to 2 cm (0.8 inches) long (average height and diameter is 1 cm (0.4 inches).
DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico. Habitat: Colonies abundant from the low rocky intertidal to 30 m (98 feet).
DIET IN THE WILD: C. californica captures prey by extruding mesenterial filaments onto its prey which are used for digestion and absorption of food in the coelenteron. If the prey is too large to take into the coelenteron, the mesenterial filaments are used to digest it externally. They are carnivores consuming copepods, crustacean larvae and other zooplankton.
REPRODUCTION: Asexual by fission and budding resulting in a dense cluster of clones.
REMARKS: The presence of aggregations of C. californica increase the density of rock oysters and mussels by protecting them from predatory sea stars.
California Coastal Marine Reef Exhibit
References
California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium 2016
Ron's flickr www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/2996776409/in/set-72157...
Ron's Wordpress wp.me/p1DZ4b-1l0
eol eol.org/pages/1006944/details
U. of Michigan ADW animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Corynactis_califo...
Walla Walla University www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/...
9-3-14 10-10-16