| Urticina piscivora | |
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| Urticina piscivora at the Vancouver Aquarium | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Actiniaria |
| Family: | Actiniidae |
| Genus: | Urticina |
| Species: | U. piscivora |
| Binomial name | |
| Urticina piscivora (Sebens & Laakso, 1978) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Urticina piscivora, common names fish-eating anemone and fish-eating urticina, [2] is a northeast Pacific species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. [1]
Urticina piscivora is a large anemone, growing to a maximum height of around 20 cm (8 in) and 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. The column is bright red in colour. The acontia is absent, but it has tubercles. These are not white and are arranged in circumferential rows. Normally they do not accumulate debris such as shells and sand. [2]
This anemone is made up of three layers of cells called the epidermis, the mesoglea and the gastrodermis. The epidermis forms the outermost layer, while the mesoglea is situated between the other two layers. The innermost layer, the gastrodermis also referred to as the gastrovascular cavity functions as the gut of the anemone. The gut of the fish-eating anemone is divided into compartments by sheets of tissue called “septa”. These sheets of tissue develop into tentacles on the surface of the anemone. The tentacles of many species of anemones are found in multiples of six. Unlike other anemone the fish-eating anemone does not possess an acontia, which is thread-like tissue made up of stinging cells that function as a defense mechanism to protect against predators. However this particular anemone does possess tubercles. [3]
This species may be confused with Urticina crassicornis . Although they may both have a red column, the tentacles of U. crassicornis normally have transverse bands, and olive green blotches are commonly found on the column. [2]
This species occurs from Alaska in the north, down to La Jolla, California in the south. [2]
Even though it can be found in intertidal zones as well it most commonly inhabits exposed, rocky Subtidal areas of outer coastlines. [4] It attaches itself to rocky prominences in locations with a substantial current flowing past. [2]
Many species of anemone are monoecious, meaning that each individual organism contains both the male and female reproductive organs of the species. The fish eating anemone on the other hand is dioecious, meaning that it has distinct male and female individual organisms. They reproduce sexually through the external fertilization of egg and sperm. The produced larvae will float in the current until it eventually lands. Afterwards the larvae will attach itself to the bottom develop a pedal disk which will grow to form an anemone. [3]
As its name suggests, this species is capable of capturing and consuming small fishes and shrimp. It does so through the use of its tentacles, stinging its prey with a potent toxin containing Upl protein which paralyzes them. [5] However, Oxylebius pictus (the painted greenling) and Lebbeus grandimanus (candy stripe shrimp) have the ability to remain among the tentacles without being harmed. [2] [6] Their sting can also be severely painful for humans.
Unlike other sea anemone which are mostly sessile Urticina Piscivora has the ability to detach quickly and reposition itself when it feels threatened by a predatory starfish. Since this anemone is unable to actively swim once detached it is deposited elsewhere by the currents. [7]
Obelia is a genus of hydrozoans, a class of mainly marine and some freshwater animal species that have both polyp and medusa stages in their life cycle. Hydrozoa belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, which are aquatic organisms that are relatively simple in structure.
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 spotted cleaner shrimp, is a kind of cleaner shrimp common to the Caribbean Sea. These shrimp live among the tentacles of several species of sea anemones. They sway their body and wave their antennae in order to attract fish from which they eat dead tissue, algae and parasites.
Mesoglea refers to the tissue found in cnidarians like coral or jellyfish that functions as a hydrostatic skeleton. It is related to but distinct from mesohyl, which generally refers to tissue found in sponges.
The dahlia anemone is a sea anemone found in the north Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Its colour is variable, from deep red to brown or purplish, with green spots and darker tentacles. Dahlia anemones live attached to rock on the seabed from the lower tidal limit down to a depth of 100 m and also attached to other organisms. Their diet comprises small fish and crustaceans, which they immobilize by firing groups of stinging cells (cnidae) into them. Dahlia anemones are closely related to mottled anemones, and both species are usually referred to as northern red anemones.
The painted greenling is a marine fish native to the northeast Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Kodiak Island, Alaska to central Baja California. It can reach a total size of 25 cm (10 in) and has seven vertical dark bands. It inhabits rocky areas shallower than 50 m (160 ft). Specimens sometimes gain protection from larger predators by living among the tentacles of Cribrinopsis albopunctata or Urticina piscivora sea anemones, which are venomous to other animals but do not harm the painted greenling.
Thor amboinensis, commonly known as the squat shrimp or sexy shrimp, is a species of shrimp found across the Indo-West Pacific and in parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It lives symbiotically on corals, sea anemones and other marine invertebrates in shallow reef communities.
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.
Aeolidia papillosa, known as the common grey sea slug, is a species of nudibranch in the family Aeolidiidae.
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 a group of predatory marine animals of 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.
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.
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.
Bartholomea annulata is a species of sea anemone in the family Aiptasiidae, commonly known as the ringed anemone or corkscrew anemone. It is one of the most common anemones found on reefs in the Caribbean Sea.
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.
The Enthemonae is a suborder of sea anemones in the order Actiniaria. It comprises those sea anemones with typical arrangement of mesenteries for actiniarians.
Diadumene cincta is a small and delicate, usually orange, sea anemone. It has a smooth slender column and up to 200 long tentacles, and normally grows to a length of up to 35 mm (1.4 in), with a base of 10 mm (0.4 in), but specimens twice this size have been recorded. Diadumene cincta is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
Actinothoe sphyrodeta, the sandalled anemone, is a small sea anemone in the family Sagartiidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and is common on the north, west and south coasts of Britain. It is usually grey or whitish but may have an orange oral disc. The translucent white tentacles that grow around the edge of the oral disc can number up to 120.
Epiactis ritteri, the sandy anemone or Ritter's brooding anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. It is found in the Pacific Ocean on the western coast of North America in the shallow sub-littoral zone.
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