5 Facts On Sea Anemone Types, Characteristics, Life Cycle

Sea anemones are a kind of predatory marine invertebrate in the Actiniaria order. Let us understand different types of Anemone with some facts below.

Pink-Tipped Anemone

The Pink-Tipped Anemone, or Condylactis gigantea is one of the most well-known and widely accessible anemones in the aquarium trade.
Pink-Tipped Anemone’s gorgeous hues and low price makes it popular.
This lovely Florida Condylactis has a pink color which looks more engaging than the well-known Giant Golden Anemone type, which is also known as the Condylactis Anemone or Condy Anemone.
Pink-Tipped Anemone prefers lower temperatures of 68° – 75° F (20 – 24° C), therefore keeping it in reef aquarium in warmer locations requires a chiller.
Florida Condylactis Anemone, Florida Pink-Tipped Anemone, Florida Condy, and Florida Condi Anemone are all names of this anemone.

800px Condylactis gigantea Giant — Image credits: **Condylactis Gigantea** by
Nick Hobgood (CC BY-SA 3.0) from Wikimedia Commons

Beadlet Anemone

Actinia equina, or Beadlet Anemone, is a little tough.
Beadlet Anemone can withstand extreme temperatures and salt levels. Not only that, but it can also be left devoid of water for extended periods of time.
Beadlet Anemone does not completely dry out. When exposed to air, it usually closes up to retain water, like a slimy glob.
Beadlet Anemone is one of the two most well-known Actinia species, along with the Australian Red Waratah Sea Anemone A. tenebrosa.
Beadlet Anemone is a stunning member of the Actiniidae family. It often has a consistent blood red tint, but it may also be tan, brown, purple, green, or orange.

Tube Anemone

The Tube Anemone Cerianthus membranaceus, often known as the Tube Dwelling Anemone, has some extremely unusual characteristics.
Tube Anemone is a hardy mammal which can withstand a broad temperature range, dim illumination, and mild filtration.
Tube Anemone is large, measuring 8″ (20 cm) wide and with tentacles that can stretch 12″ (30.5 cm) or more.
Tube Anemone burrows deep into a sandy or muddy substrate with its pointed foot, leaving just the oral disc and tentacles exposed on the surface.
Tube Anemone can also generate a significant amount of trash due to the discharge of tube slime.

Bubble Tip Anemone

One of the most well-known, clown-hosting anemones is the Bubble-Tip Anemone Entacmaea Quadricolor.
Bubble Tip Anemone is quite appealing and one of the simplest anemones to care for. However, because it wanders more than other anemones, it is best suited to a big tank.
In the wild, Bubble-Tip Anemone is known to host 13 distinct species of clownfish, and one extra species in captivity.
One of Bubble Tip Anemone‘s most striking and unusual characteristics is the form of its tentacles.
The tentacles of Bubble Tip Anemone have the ability to expand and generate a beautiful bulbous or pear-shaped protrusion immediately below the tip.

800px Entacmaea quadricolor Bubb — Image credits: Bubble Tip Anemone by
Nick Hobgood (CC BY-SA 3.0) from Wikimedia Commons

Sea Anemone Characteristics

The most prolific and diversified populations of sea anemone’s are located in shallow tropical seas. Let us check their different characteristics in brief.

More than 1,000 species of sea anemone live in the world’s seas, in both shallow and deep glasses of water. Tropical seas are home to these species most diversified and massive populations.
Sea Anemones are available in practically any color combination and can grow to be as huge as six feet across or as little as half an inch.
Sea anemones are called after a type of terrestrial flower because they resemble bright, wide-blossoming plants.
Sea Anemone organisms, however, are invertebrates – relatives of coral and jellyfish – with hollow, cylindrical bodies that rest on a sticky disc or “foot”.
Each Sea Anemone have a central mouth encircled by densely packed tentacles that resemble feather boas on their tips.
Anemones utilize the tentacles that surround their mouth to discharge harpoon-like filaments that inject a paralyzing venom into their prey. Their tentacles then direct their meal into their mouth.
When an anemone feels threatened, it unleashes the same lethal firepower. This can happen if the animal is even slightly touched.
If a sting is not enough to deter a predator, anemones can retract their tentacles and hide within their own hollows.
Anemones form crucial symbiotic interactions with other aquatic animals. Anemones, for example, give green algae bright, safe places to reside in exchange for oxygen and sugar, which are byproducts of the algae’s photosynthesis.

Sea anemone Life Cycle

Sea anemones live eternally and proliferate, only growing in size. They are functionally immortal. Let us check their lifecycle in detail.

Anthozoans, including sea anemones, lack the free-swimming medusae stage of the life cycle, which is seen in other groups of Cnidarians.
The polyp produces eggs and sperm, and the fertilized egg grows into a planula, which eventually grows into another polyp.
A few Anemones are parasitic on sea creatures. Anemones tend to stay in the same location unless conditions are adverse, such as being attacked by a predator.
In the event of an assault, Anemones can use flexing motions to uproot themselves and swim away to a new area.
Males produce sperm, which induces females to release eggs, and fertilization takes place. The sperm or eggs are discharged via the mouth. The fertilized egg grows into a planula, which eventually settles down and matures as a solitary anemone.
Budding (binary fission), which includes ripping apart into two halves, and pedal laceration, in which little parts of the pedal disc break off and regenerate into miniature anemones, are other ways they might reproduce. A laceration is a process through which the basal disc fragments or splits into two halves.
Some sea anemones split longitudinally, tearing themselves apart along their length. Others employ pedal laceration, in which little sections of the basal disc break off and develop into miniature anemones. Another process is budding, in which a portion of an anemone protrudes and breaks off, generating a new anemone.

Sea anemone sting

Most of the organism has certain defensive mechanism to protect themselves from their predators. Let us explore the kind of defensive mechanism sea anemone follows.

In order to protect themselves from predators, Sea Anemone uses sting as its defensive mechanism.
Sea anemones are typically innocuous to human being, but sometimes the interaction can be fatal, inflicting significant injuries. Contact with people is usually made during deep-sea diving or when a sea anemone washes ashore.
The severity of signs and symptoms is determined by the type of sea anemone, the amount of toxin injected, and the human body’s reaction to the toxin.
Anyone who comes into contact with a sea anemone is at risk of getting stung.
Not all sea anemones have toxic spines, and the majority of species are only found in deep waters.

Magnificent Sea Anemone

Sea anemone are of different types, some of which have already been discussed earlier. Let us explore some facts about Magnificient sea anemone.

Magnificent sea anemone spends its whole existence as a polyp. It has two discs, one pedal and one oral.
A sticky foot on the pedal disc is used to anchor the anemone to various hard surfaces.
The mouth and surrounding tentacles of magnificent sea anemone are housed in the flat to slightly curve oral disc. This disc is often yellow, brown, or green in color.
The tentacles are lengthy and non-tapering, with bulging tips.
The bottom section of the tentacles is the same color as the disc, while the regions further out are usually tan and the colors might be green, orange, pink, purple, or red.

Green sea anemone

Green sea anemone lives by feeding on small marine organisms and fishes. Let us see some other interesting facts on green sea anemone in detail.

594px Anthopleura sola Giant Green Anemone — **Image Credits: Giant Green Anemone by Jerry Kirkhart (CC BY 2.0) from Wikimedia Commons**

The adult gigantic green anemone is sessile, meaning it seldom moves from where it attaches early in life.
The green colour of green sea anemone comes from natural pigmentation.
The majority of green sea anemone’s color comes from the symbiotic connection it has with the microalgae (zoochlorellae) and dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) that dwell in its tissues.
Unicellular creatures like green sea anemone are photosynthetic, supplying nutrition as well as pigments to the huge green anemone.

Sea Anemone Facts

The features and facts of sea anemones are explained further in the below section. Let us go through it.

Sea anemones are animals, despite their plant-like appearance. They are invertebrates with soft bodies.
The majority of mature sea anemones are stationary and their body is made up of water. The term “sea anemone” comes from its superficial similarity to the terrestrial anemone bloom.
The order Actiniaria includes all sea anemones.
Sea anemones, unlike jellyfish, complete their whole lives in a polyp phase and do not go through a medusa phase. Sea anemones have no hard parts and hence do not fossilize.
There are, however, some unusual fossils, the oldest going back to the Cambrian epoch. Larger species of sea anemone are generally solitary, but lesser species frequently coexist in large densities in common areas.
Some sea anemones glow when exposed to UV light.
To protect their body, sea anemone occasionally cover themselves with sand, shell pieces, and other particles.
Sea anemones, like jellyfish, lack brains. They also lack hearts.
Sea anemones lack eyes and rely on chemical and tactile cues to communicate.

Conclusion

From the above article, it can be concluded that sea anemones have a vital function, or ecological niche, in a coral reef population. Many anemone species serve as home for other reef creatures, such as clownfish, which hides in the anemone’s tentacles to avoid predators.