| Urticina eques | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Actiniaria |
| Family: | Actiniidae |
| Genus: | Urticina |
| Species: | U. eques |
| Binomial name | |
| Urticina eques (Gosse, 1858) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Urticina eques is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. It is commonly known as the white-spotted rose anemone or strawberry anemone. [2]
According to one authority, the populations of Urticina eques found in the Pacific Ocean are not the same species as those in the Atlantic Ocean and should instead be considered to be conspecific with Cribrinopsis albopunctata , a new species from Kamchatka. [3]
Urticina eques has a smooth, red column with vertical rows of white tubercles. In contrast to other similar species, the tubercles are not adhesive and do not normally attract gravel and shell fragments. There are no acontia with stinging nematocysts protruding through the body wall. The oral disk is plain red and the tapering tentacles are red and have no transverse striations. This is a large sea anemone with a diameter of up to 10 cm (4 in) and 15 cm (6 in) length. [2]
Urticina eques is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific coast of North America. It occurs between low water mark and a depth of about 15 m (49 ft). It is found on rocks and pilings, in crevices and gullies and favours exposed habitats with fast moving water. [2]
Urticina eques is dioecious. In California, female ripeness occurs in December as the sea temperature begins to fall. The large eggs, 1,200 μm (0.047 in ) in diameter, are produced at intervals, and the release of sperm by the males follows shortly afterwards. In some females, large oocytes also release eggs at other times of year. The gametes emerge through the mouth of the anemone and fertilisation is external. The eggs develop into planula larvae which drift with the current before settling and growing into new individuals. [4]
Juveniles of the painted greenling, a species of fish, have a facultative association with Urticina eques. They are often found among the tentacles or close to the column, especially when resting and inactive at night. According to researcher Joel Elliot, these associations occurred mainly in moderately exposed locations where the sea anemones and fish were both numerous; the large anemone offers the fish protection from predators and provides a safe environment for it to feed on copepods and other small invertebrates that are also associated with the anemone. [5] The research indicated that the fish seemed to be unharmed by the anemone's nematocysts. The anemones themselves were thought not to derive any benefits from the arrangement. [5]
The orange clownfish also known as percula clownfish and clown anemonefish, is widely known as a popular aquarium fish. Like other clownfishes, it often lives in association with sea anemones. A. percula is associated specifically with Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla gigantea, and as larvae use chemical cues released from the anemones to identify and locate the appropriate host species to use them for shelter and protection. This causes preferential selection when finding their anemone host species. Although popular, maintaining this species in captivity is rather complex. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority regulates the number of collection permits issued to aquarium fish dealers who seek this, and other tropical fish within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The symbiosis between anemonefish and anemones depends on the presence of the fish drawing other fish to the anemone, where they are stung by its venomous tentacles. The anemone helps the fish by giving it protection from predators, which include brittle stars, wrasses, and other damselfish, and the fish helps the anemone by feeding it, increasing oxygenation, and removing waste material from the host. Various hypotheses exist about the fish's ability to live within the anemone without being harmed. One study carried out at Marineland of the Pacific by Dr. Demorest Davenport and Dr. Kenneth Noris in 1958 revealed that the mucus secreted by the anemone fish prevented the anemone from discharging its lethal stinging nematocysts. A second hypothesis is that A. percula has acquired immunity towards the sea anemone's toxins, and a combination of the two has been shown to be the case. The fish feed on algae, zooplankton, worms, and small crustaceans.
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.
The Venus flytrap sea anemone is a large sea anemone that superficially resembles a Venus flytrap. It closes its tentacles to capture prey or to protect itself. It is a deep ocean species.
Actinia fragacea, commonly known as the strawberry anemone, is a species of sea anemone of the order Actiniaria, that occurs from Norway to Africa, including adjacent islands and the Mediterranean. It is generally found on rocks of the lower shoreline and depths up to 8–10 metres (26–33 ft).
Cribrinopsis fernaldi, also known as the crimson anemone, snakelock anemone, chevron-tentacle anemone and Fernald brooding anemone, is a sea anemone native to the Pacific Ocean off northwestern North America.
The starburst anemone or sunburst anemone is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. The sunburst anemone was formerly considered the solitary form of the common aggregating anemone, but was identified as a separate species in 2000.
Urticina crassicornis, commonly known as the mottled anemone, the painted anemone or the Christmas anemone, is a large and common intertidal and subtidal species of 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 a group of predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the Anemone, a terrestrial flowering plant. 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.
Bolocera tuediae, commonly known as the deeplet sea anemone, is a sea anemone found in the sublittoral zone of the North Sea. It was first discovered near Bewick, England by Johnston in 1832. It is distinguished by its large, hexamerous size and shedding of tentacles. The nematocysts of the anemone can have dangerous effects, including the rupturing of human blood cells. The deeplet sea anemone was observed to have a symbiotic relationship with shrimp, as they cluster around its base in both temperate and Northwest Atlantic waters.
Phymanthus crucifer, commonly known as rock flower anemone, flower anemone, red beaded anemone or the beaded anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Phymanthidae. It has been described as "closely similar" to Heteractis aurora in several ways, commonly exhibiting "tentacles with swollen cross-bars" bearing large clusters of stinging nematocysts. However, P. crucifer may also be found with smooth tentacles, sometimes in the immediate vicinity of a swollen-crossbarred specimen.
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.
Urticina is a genus of relatively large and often colorful sea anemones in the family Actiniidae from the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
Sagartia elegans, the elegant anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Sagartiidae. It is found in coastal areas of northwest Europe at depths down to 50 metres.
Metridium farcimen is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. It is commonly known as the giant plumose anemone or white-plumed anemone. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Alaska down to Catalina Island, California.
Cerianthus lloydii is a species of tube-dwelling sea anemone in the family Cerianthidae. It is sometimes called the lesser cylinder anemone and is found in shallow seas around the coasts of north west Europe.
Urticina columbiana, common names crusty red anemone, Columbia sand anemone, sand anemone, and the sand-rose anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae.
Urticina piscivora, common names fish-eating anemone and fish-eating urticina, is a northeast Pacific species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae.
The Enthemonae is a suborder of sea anemones in the order Actiniaria. It comprises those sea anemones with typical arrangement of mesenteries for actiniarians.
Actinostola callosa is a species of sea anemones in the family Actinostolidae in the order Actiniaria. It is a deep sea species and occurs in both Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the continental shelf to abyssal depths.
