| Calliactis polypus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Anthozoa |
| Order: | Actiniaria |
| Family: | Hormathiidae |
| Genus: | Calliactis |
| Species: | C. p. [1] |
| Binomial name | |
| Calliactis polypus [1] (Forsskål, 1775) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
| |
Calliactis polypus is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It is usually found living on the surface of a sea snail shell in which a hermit crab is living.
C. polypus can grow up to 8 cm (3 in) long. Several anemones can grow on one shell. The base is wide with wavy edges and pink striations and flares out over the shell surface. The column is wider at the base than further up and has pale brown and white patches and longitudinal striations. The oral disc has several whorls of long brownish translucent tentacles with paler bases surrounding the mouth. [2]
C. polypus is found in the Indo-Pacific area and the Red Sea. It lives in the neritic zone at depths down to about 25 metres (80 ft). [1]
C. polypus lives as a commensal with several species of hermit crab including Dardanus gemmatus . The anemone shows no inclination to attach itself to a gastropod shell with or without a hermit crab. However the crab shows great interest in the anemone and taps and massages the base of the column with its legs until the anemone relaxes and the pedal disc becomes detached. The crab then picks up the anemone and holds it against the shell in which it is living. Both the pedal disc and the tentacles are very sticky and either can quickly form a firm attachment to the shell. [3]
Anthozoa is a class of marine invertebrates which includes the sea anemones, stony corals and soft corals. Adult anthozoans are almost all attached to the seabed, while their larvae can disperse as part of the plankton. The basic unit of the adult is the polyp; this consists of a cylindrical column topped by a disc with a central mouth surrounded by tentacles. Sea anemones are mostly solitary, but the majority of corals are colonial, being formed by the budding of new polyps from an original, founding individual. Colonies are strengthened by calcium carbonate and other materials and take various massive, plate-like, bushy or leafy forms.
Calliactis is a genus of sea anemones. Species in this genus are mutually symbiotic with hermit crabs. The anemone gets a place to live and discarded scraps of the crab's food in exchange for its help in defending the crab.
Stichodactyla haddoni, commonly known as Haddon's sea anemone, is a species of sea anemone belonging to the family Stichodactylidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific area.
Urticina crassicornis, commonly known as the mottled anemone, the painted anemone or the Christmas anemone, is a large and common intertidal and subtidal sea anemone. Its habitat includes a large portion of the coastal areas of the northern hemisphere, mainly polar regions, and it lives a solitary life for up to 80 years. Mottled anemones are similar to Dahlia anemones and both are commonly referred to as northern red anemones.
Sea anemones are the marine, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria. They are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flowering plant, because of the colourful appearance of many. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Hexacorallia. As cnidarians, sea anemones are related to corals, jellyfish, tube-dwelling anemones, and Hydra. Unlike jellyfish, sea anemones do not have a medusa stage in their life cycle.
Condylactis gigantea is a tropical species of ball anemone that is found in shallow reefs and other shallow inshore areas in the Caribbean Sea – more specifically the West Indies – and the western Atlantic Ocean including southern Florida through the Florida Keys. It is also commonly known as: giant Caribbean sea anemone, giant golden anemone, condylactis anemone, Haitian anemone, pink-tipped anemone, purple-tipped anemone, and Florida condy. This species can easily be seen growing in lagoons or in inner reefs as either individuals or loose groups, but never as colonies. They are often used as a model organism along with others in their genus for facultative symbiosis with monocellular algae.
Dardanus gemmatus, the jeweled anemone hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab native to tropical reefs surrounding the Indo-Pacific, typically at depths of 2–100 metres (10–330 ft).
Periclimenes dardanicola is a species of shrimp found in the western Pacific Ocean. It lives in association with sea anemones that live on the gastropod shells carried by hermit crabs. It was first named by Alexander J. Bruce and Junji Okuno in 2006. It is mainly white, and grows up to a carapace length of 4 mm (0.16 in).
Dardanus calidus is a species of hermit crab from the East Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.
Calliactis parasitica is a species of sea anemone associated with hermit crabs. It lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea at depths between the intertidal zone and 60 m (200 ft). It is up to 10 cm × 8 cm in size, with up to 700 tentacles, and is very variable in colour. The relationship between C. parasitica and the hermit crab is mutualistic: the sea anemone protects the hermit crab with its stings, and benefits from the food thrown up by the hermit crab's movements.
Epiactis prolifera, the brooding, proliferating or small green anemone, is a species of marine invertebrate in the family Actiniidae. It is found in the north-eastern Pacific. It has a feature rare among animals in that all individuals start life as females but develop testes later in their lives to become hermaphrodites.
Adamsia palliata is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It is usually found growing on a gastropod shell inhabited by the hermit crab, Pagurus prideaux. The anemone often completely envelops the shell and because of this it is commonly known as the cloak anemone or the hermit-crab anemone.
Sagartia troglodytes is a species of sea anemone in the family Sagartiidae, also known as the mud sagartia or the cave-dwelling anemone.
Metridium senile, or frilled anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. As a member of the genus Metridium, it is a type of plumose anemone and is found in the seas off north-western Europe and both the east and west coasts of North America.
Triactis is a genus of sea anemone in the family Aliciidae. It is monotypic, having only one species – Triactis producta. This is found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific where it lives on the seabed, rocks and corals. It derives much of its energy needs from the symbiotic algae it contains. It also forms a mutualistic relationship with small Lybia crabs.
Dardanus venosus, the starry-eyed crab or stareye crab, is a species of hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. It occurs in shallow water on the eastern coasts of America from Florida southward to Brazil. It is sometimes kept in reef aquaria.
Calliactis tricolor, the tricolor anemone or hitchhiking anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It can be found attached to rocks but is often attached to a living crab or mollusc or an empty shell occupied by a hermit crab.
Lebrunia neglecta is a species of sea anemone in the family Aliciidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Dardanus arrosor, the red reef hermit or Mediterranean hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab.
Dardanus deformis is a species of nocturnal hermit crab that is found in the Indo-Pacific. Its common name is pale anemone hermit. The species is known to transfer sea anemones from one shell to another when it moves to a different shell. It can be kept in an aquarium.