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| cnidarians text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Actiniaria |
| Pizza
anemone Cryptodendrum adhaesivum Family Thalassianthidae updated Aug 10 Where seen? This rather large sea anemone is seldom seen. Possibly simply because it just doesn't look like a sea anemone, and because it is usually well hidden in crevices or under large dead corals. Sometimes seen on our Southern shores. Features: Diameter 25-30cm. There is usually a smooth rounded rim so that the animal looks very much like a pizza! The tentacles on the oral disk are short, tiny and tightly packed. The tentacles are very sticky, hence another common name for it is Adhesive anemone. The tentacles come in two forms as described by Dr Fautin, "those in center have a narrow stalk with five or more short branches at end (i.e. resembling a miniature glove); those near the edge simple elongate bulbs about 1 mm diameter; at extreme margin is a ring of tentacles like the central ones but with fewer branches. Tentacles of the two forms are usually different colours: observed combinations include yellow and pink, blue and gray, green and brown; occasionally tentacles of another colour occur in patches amid those of predominant colour." The body column may be brightly coloured; those seen were purple or yellow. Generally smooth with tiny verrucae of the same colour or slightly darker. Pizza friends: The Pizza anemone harbours symbiotic algae (called zooxanthellae) that photosynthesize. The algae share the food produced with the anemone, which in turn provides the algae with shelter and minerals. Several kinds of animals may live happily and unharmed on the Pizza anemone. These include anemonefishes (Amphiprion sp.). such as Amphiprion bicinctus, A. clarkii and A. xanthurus. But these none of these have so far been observed on the Pizza anemones we've seen on the intertidal during low tide. |
 Raffles Lighthouse, Jun 07   Two different kinds of tentacles. |
Pizza anemones on Singapore shores
 Terumbu Raya, Mar 11 |
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 Sisters Island, Jul 04 |
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Links
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IKAN-Unterwasserachiv, Frankfurt. 305 pp.|
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