Common Name: strawberry anemone - Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre

Common Name: strawberry anemone 

Scientific Name: Corynactis californica 

(KOR-een-ACT-is kal-i-FOR-ni-ka) 

©Bernard P. Hanby 

Defining Characteristics 

• Max size of 2 cm high 

• Red, orange, or pink with whitish club-tipped tentacles 

• Mainly colonial 

Habitat & Range 

• Intertidal 45 m deep 

• Rocks in areas of strong current 

• British Columbia to Mexico 

Prey & Predators 

• Prey on copepods, invertebrate, fish larvae, crustaceans, snails 

• Predators are nudibranchs, sea stars 

Reproduction 

• Usually reproduce asexually by budding creating identical offspring 

• Reproduce sexually by broadcasting sperm and eggs 

Additional Information 

• Colonies of these anemones can span 20 m wide 

© Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre 2009. Phylum Cnidaria

Common Name: swimming anemone / cowardly anemone 

Scientific Name: Stomphia didemon 

(STOM-fee-ah DID-e-mon) 



• Max size of 12 cm in diameter, 10 cm in height 

• Cream to bright orange column with white or banded tentacles 


• Subtidal waters to 20 m deep 

• Sandy or shell-littered bottoms 

• Alaska to California 


• Prey on crustaceans 


Reproduction 



• This anemone will ‘swim’ by flexing its muscles in defense of predators 

• “Stomphia” means ‘saucer mouth’ 


Common Name: tube-dwelling anemone 

Scientific Name: Pachycerianthus fimbriatus 

(PAK-ee-ser-ee-ANTH-us FIM-bree-A-tus) 



• Max size of 20 cm in diameter, 35 cm in length 

• Two sets of banded, golden-brown to purple-black tentacles come out from a leather-like 

tube in the sand 


• Intertidal to 30 m deep 

• Muddy, or sandy substrates 

• Produces a mucus-like, tough, leathery tube 60 cm into the mud/sand 

• Alaska to Mexico 


• Prey on small invertebrates, plankton 

• Predators are giant nudibranchs 

Reproduction 



• When approached by a predator, this anemone quickly retreats down its tube in the sand 

• The anemone’s tentacles can grow back after being attacked by predators 

• The giant nudibranch will lay its eggs on the tube of this anemone 

• Some species in this genus of anemone have fluorescent tentacles that absorb UV light 

and re-emit it as visible light 


Common Name: burrowing green anemone / moonglow anemone 

Scientific Name: Anthopleura artemisia 

(AN-tho-PLUR-ah ar-TEM-iss-ee-ah) 

flickr.com 


• Max size 10 cm in diameter, 25 cm column 

• Long, slender tentacles with a buried column 

• Pink or orange to green-grey, brown, or black, often with white bands 



• Buried in sand to sandy-shell hash attached to a rock or shell 

• Prefers protected bays but also found on open coast 

• Alaska to southern California 


• Prey on zooplankton, small bottom dwelling worms, fish, squid, herring eggs 


Reproduction 

• Broadcast sperm and eggs in the late spring-early summer 

• Can reproduce asexually by fission creating two identical animals 


• At low tide, this organism may withdraw below the sand 

• Has a symbiotic relationship with an algae in the exposed tissues 

• Will attack other anemones with white spherules—small bumps at the base of the 

tentacles that contain nematocysts 


Common Name: crimson anemone / snakelock anemone 

Scientific Name: Cribrinopsis fernaldi 

(kri-BRIN-op-sis fer-NAL-deye) 

Kirt L. Onthank 


• Max size of 20 cm column 

• Long, slender, drooping tentacles that drape over the column 

• White, yellow, or pink with a thin zigzag pattern 

• Small, white tubercles (raised spots) down the column 

• A ring of knobs called ‘contact tentacles’ are on the top edge of the column 


• Subtidal to more than 300 m deep 

• Rocky substrate 

• Alaska to Puget Sound 


• Prey on zooplankton, small bottom dwelling worms, fish, squid 


Reproduction 

• Young are brooded in the anemone and released as larvae into the ocean 


• Contact tentacles are used for attacking other anemones that get too close 


Common Name: aggregating anemone / pink tipped anemone 

Scientific Name: Anthopleura elegantissima 

(AN-tho-PLUR-a ELL-e-gan-TIS-e-ma) 



• Max size of 10 cm across 

• Olive to bright green, with pink tips 

• Has a symbiotic relationship (living together for the benefit of each organism) with 

photosynthetic algae 


• Intertidal up to 18 m deep 

• Rock walls, boulders, pilings 

• Semi-protected coastal waters 



• Prey on copepods, amphipods, isopods 

• Predators are nudibranchs, leather star, mosshead sculpin 

Reproduction 

• Sexual reproduction by broadcasting sperm and eggs 

• Asexual reproduction by budding 


• Colonies of aggregating anemones are territorial and are actually at war against each 

other 

• They will sting members of neighboring colonies to keep them away 


Common Name: giant green anemone / green surf anemone 

Scientific Name: Anthopleura xanthogrammica 

(AN-tho-PLUR-a ZAN-tho-gram-i-ka) 




• Crown is greenish, bluish or white with dark brown column 

• Not aggressive to neighbours 



• Rocky exposed shores and tidepools 

• Alaska to Panama 


• Prey on crabs, small fish, sea urchins, mussels 

• Predators are predatory snails, sea spiders 

Reproduction 

• Sexual reproduction only 

• Broadcasts sperm and eggs 

• Eggs are a brownish colour 


• The largest green anemone 

• More solitary than aggregating anemone 

• Cover themselves with shells to reflect sunlight and keep cool when the tide goes out 

• Produce toxins that stimulate human heart muscle and have been considered for medical 

use 

• The more sun exposure this anemone receives, the brighter green it will be due to the 

increased growth of algae in its skin 


Common Name: giant plumose anemone 

Scientific Name: Metridium farcimen 

(meh-TRID-ee-um far-SEE-men) 



• Average height is 25 to 75 cm tall 

• White, cream, tan, brown, orange in colour 

• Long broad column with many slender, short tentacles around oral disk 


• Subtidal waters to 300 m deep 

• Rocks, floats, wharfs 



• Prey on plankton, detritus 


Reproduction 


• Asexual reproduction 

• As the anemone moves it leaves behind parts of its base behind which grow into cloned 

anemones 


• Sting drifting organisms with their frilly tentacles 

• Have specialized tentacles that can reach 12 cm in length for defense against nonidentical 

anemones 


Common Name: short plumose anemone / powder puff anemone 

Scientific Name: Metridium senile 

(meh-TRID-ee-um SEN-ill-ee) 



• Max size of 10 cm in diameter, 5-10 cm tall 

• Range in colour from white, cream, brown, tan 

• A smooth column with up to 100 slender tentacles 



• Hard surfaces, on floats, in areas of strong current 

• Circumpolar (throughout the arctic circle), Alaska to southern California 


• Prey on zooplankton, small bottom dwelling worms, fish, squid, kelp 


Reproduction 

• As it moves, small pieces of this anemone’s foot may break off to become new, identical 

anemones (clones) 



• These anemones may even be found on the carapace of crabs 

• Anemones found at the border of a group of clones can develop ‘catch tentacles’ that will 

probe adjacent areas for different species of anemone and attack them with special 

nematocysts in these tentacles 


Common Name: painted anemone / dahlia anemone 

Scientific Name: Urticina crassicornis 

(UR-tih-SEE-nah CRASS-ee-COR-nis) 




• Several shades of colour; patches of red, green, or yellow on the column and red, white, 

or pink tipped tentacles 

• Splotchy like appearance on the base (disk column) 



• Rocky substrates 

• Circumpolar (throughout the arctic circle), Alaska to southern California 


• Prey on small fish, crabs, molluscs 

• Predators are sea snails and sea stars 

Reproduction 

• Asexual reproduction by cloning 



• Solitary anemone 

• Cannot sting through a person’s skin 

• Can live for over 50 years 


Common Name: proliferating anemone / brooding anemone 

Scientific Name: Epiactis prolifera 

(ep-ee-AK-tis pro-LIFF-er-ah) 



• Max size of 8 cm across and 10 cm tall 

• Varying shades of red, pink, green, or brown 



• Rocky substrates, coralline algae 

• Mainly dwell on eelgrass 

• Southern Alaska to southern California 


• Prey on crab, shrimp, mussels 

• Predators are nudibranchs, leather star, mosshead sculpin 

Reproduction 

• Internal fertilization 

• Female adults are small 

• Large adults are mainly hermaphroditic 

• Cross and self fertilization can occur 


• After hatching inside the adult anemone, the babies come out through the mouth and 

cling to the side of their parent until they are big enough to live on their own 


Common Name: rose anemone / fish-eating anemone 

Scientific Name: Urticina piscivora 

(UR-tee-SEE-nah PIS-i-VOR-ah) 




• Tentacles are hot pink or white 

• Broad dark maroon column with no markings 





• Prey on small fish, shrimp, other invertebrates 

• Predators are nudibranchs 

Reproduction 



• Juveniles are much brighter in colour and may look quite different 


• This species has more powerful stinging tentacles than many other anemones 

• They grow larger when food is plentiful and "grow" smaller when food is scarce 

• The painted greenling (Oxylebius pictus), has been observed lying unharmed in this 

anemone like clownfish do in tropical anemones in symbiosis 


Common Name: fried-egg jelly 

Scientific Name: Phacellophora camtschatica 

(FA-sell-o-FOR-a CAM-sha-TEE-ka) 



• Max size of 60 cm 

• Opaque bell with yellow centre that looks like a fried egg 

• Has 16 clusters of a dozen or so tentacles 


• Pelagic waters (open sea) 

• Alaska to Chile and Japan 


• Prey on jellies, other zooplankton 

• Predators are sea turtles, ocean sunfish, blue rockfish 

Reproduction 




• One of the biggest jellies in the Salish Sea 

• Because of its weak sting, small crustaceans ride the bell and drift along with the jelly in 

the current 


Common Name: lion’s mane / red medusa 

Scientific Name: Cyanea capillata 

(SIGH-an-EE-a ca-PIL-ah-ta) 



• Max size of 12 cm to 2 m across 

• Stinging tentacles can be 10 times the body length 

• Vivid yellow to orange or sometimes red in colour 

• Bell is divided into 8 lobes with many tentacles 





• Prey on zooplankton and small fish 

• Predators are seabirds, larger fish, sea turtles, other jellies 

Reproduction 

• Sexual reproduction in the medusa stage 

• Asexual reproduction in the polyp stage 

• Young fish huddle under parents as they swim 


• Warning! Have painful sting, humans who touch tentacles may develop a bee-like sting 

• This jelly was used in the Sherlock Holmes short story “The Adventure of the Lion’s 

Mane” 


Common Name: sea nettle 

Scientific Name: Chrysaora fuscescens 

(krih-SAH-or-ay few-SESH-ens) 



• Bell size of 1 m in diameter 

• Tentacle length of up to 4.6 m 

• Golden-brown bell with 24 maroon tentacles and white oral arms 



• Alaska to California, Japan, Kamchatka, the Bering Sea 


• Prey on young pollock, larval fish, zooplankton, other jellies 

• Predators are seabirds, sunfish, sea turtles 

Reproduction 

• Males broadcast sperm and females broadcast eggs 


• Warning! The trailing tentacles have quite a sting if you touch them 

• The long, trailing tentacles contain stinging cells that contain small barb-like structures 

called nematocysts that sting and paralyzes prey 

• Fishing down the food chain and other human affects on coastal regions may have 

created more favorable conditions for jellies 

• Sometimes small crabs find shelter within this jellyfish 


Common Name: water jellies / many ribbed medusa 

Scientific Name: Aequorea spp. 

(ee-KWOR-ee-ah) 



• Max size of 17.5 cm in diameter, 4 cm high 

• Thick, colourless, transparent bell with white radial stripes resembling a bicycle wheel 

with spokes 

• Produce green bioluminescent pattern 


• Pelagic coastal waters (open sea) 



• Prey on crustaceans, other jellyfish, free-swimming tunicates 

• Predators are other jellies 

Reproduction 



• These jellies contain a similar chemical to the one that lights up fireflies at night 


Common Name: moon jelly / white sea jelly 

Scientific Name: Aurelia labiata 

(AWH-rell-EE-ah la-BEE-ah-TA) 




• Lack long trailing tentacles but have many little tentacles 

• Four central distinctive pinkish, yellow or purple ‘horseshoes’ shapes (sex oragns) 


• Pelagic coastal waters (open sea) including bays and inlets 



• Prey on zooplankton using stinging cells and sticky mucus to catch food 

• Predators are birds, turtles, other jellies 

Reproduction 

• Sexual reproduction in the medusa stage 

• Asexual reproduction in the polyp stage by budding 

• Internal fertilization 

• Spawn in sheltered bays 


• When spawning, great clouds of moon jellies appear close to shore and get washed onto 

beaches in storms 


Common Name: red-eye medusa / bell-shaped jelly fish 

Scientific Name: Polyorchis penicillatus 

(POL-EE-or-kis pen-i-sill-a-tus) 



• Max size of 10 cm in height 

• Transparent, colourless bell with yellow, brown, or purplish organs 

• Tiny red eye spots where the bell meets the tentacles are light sensitive to help orient 

itself 


• Pelagic coastal waters (open sea) including bays and inlets 



• Prey on zooplankton, worms, crustaceans 

• Predators on birds, sea turtles 

Reproduction 

• Separate sexes 

• Sexual reproduction 


• This jelly picks up food as it drifts over the bottom 

• Benthic medusa, generally stays near the bottom

Common Name: strawberry anemone - Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre

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