Ivell's sea anemone

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Ivell's sea anemone
Edwardsia ivelli.jpg
Artist's image of the anemone
Status iucn3.1 CR.svg
Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Anthozoa
Class: Hexacorallia
Order: Actiniaria
Family: Edwardsiidae
Genus: Edwardsia
Species:
E. ivelli
Binomial name
Edwardsia ivelli
Manuel, 1975 [2]

Ivell's sea anemone (Edwardsia ivelli) is a possibly extinct species of sea anemone in the family Edwardsiidae. It is endemic to a single location, Widewater Lagoon in West Sussex, England, where it was first discovered by Richard Ivell but has not been recorded since 1973.

Contents

Taxonomy

Ivell's sea anemone was first formally described in 1975 by the marine biologist Richard L. Manuel from specimens collected at Widewater Lagoon by Professor Richard Ivell in 1973. Manuel recognised that these specimens were of a species in the genus Edwardsia but they did not belong to any species described from the United Kingdom, so he described the new species and named it in honour of Ivell. [2] The genus Edwardsia was proposed in 1842 by Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau and is classified in the family Edwardsiidae, in the superfamily Edwardsioidea in the suborder Anenthemonae in the order Actiniaria, the sea anemones. [3]

Description

Ivell's sea anemone is a tiny, worm-like anemone up to 20 mm (0.79 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) diameter; the column is similar to other Edwardsia spp. There are twelve transparent tentacles, arranged in two cycles, nine tentacles in the outer cycle and three in the inner cycle. In life the tentacles of the outer cycle are held flat on the substrate, the three of the inner cycle more or less vertical, often curled over the mouth. Each tentacle has a few transverse bars of pale cream occasionally forming complete rings. [4] [2] [5]

Habitat and distribution

Ivell's sea anenome lives in long burrows in very soft mud in a saline lagoons and associated creeks. [4]

It is endemic to England known from only one site, Widewater Lagoon in West Sussex, the type locality. Searches in recent years have failed to find any specimens and the species is considered extinct by some conservationists [4] It was last recorded in 1983. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Macadam, C. (2022). "Edwardsia ivelli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022: e.T7035A200286264. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T7035A200286264.en . Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Manuel, R.L. (1975). A new sea anemone from a brackish lagoon in Sussex, Edwardsia ivelli, sp. nov. Journal of Natural History, 9, 705-711.
  3. ↑ Daphne Fautin (2015). "Edwardsia ivelli Manuel, 1975". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Jackson, A. (1999). Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K (eds.). "Edwardsia ivelli Ivell's sea anemone". Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). "Edwardsia ivelli Manuel, 1975". Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
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