Marine Life - Jewel Anemone (Corynactis viridis)
Ever been on a dive and seen something you didn’t recognise? The Marine Life pages might help you to recognise the wonderful organisms you have explored in the underwater realm. Read on to find information on such aspects as the feeding, breeding and physiology of some of your favourite marine flora and fauna.
Sea anemones are a member of the subphylum Anthozoa and as such are related to corals, sea fans and sea pens. Anemones vary in size from a fraction of an inch in length and diameter to a couple feet in diameter. The soft body is cylindrical and may be thick and short or long and slender. The base is usually attached by a sucker-like disk to a hard surface such as a rock or shell. Most anemones seldom move but some may glide very slowly or move in a slow somersaulting fashion. Some species have no disk and instead burrow deep into the sand or mud, exposing only their mouths. Others float near the ocean surface, with their mouths pointing downward. The anemone's mouth opening, at the upper end of the body, is surrounded by several circles of tentacles. These vary in number but are usually present in some multiple of six. In each tentacle are thousands of threadlike tubes, each one armed with a poisoned barb called a nematocyst. When a shrimp, small fish, or other marine animal touches a tentacle, it is stung and paralyzed by these barbs. It is then drawn into the anemone's body cavity and consumed. Some anemones eat only microorganisms.
Jewel anemones are small, about 2.5 cm across, and have up to a hundred translucent tentacles, with distinctive white or brightly coloured rounded tips, surrounding the central mouth. They are actually more closely related to corals than they are to other anemones and produce some of the most beautiful underwater scenery to be seen in Cornish waters. Jewel anemones occur in an amazing variety of colours, for example greens, purples, reds, pinks, yellows and oranges can all be seen on a single rock face. They reproduce asexually and thus occur in distinct patches instead of being mixed. When this effect is combined with very clear water the result is often breathtaking. Jewel anemones favour fast flowing water and can be found in large numbers at dive sites such as Wolf Rock and Raglan Reef.
See More ..
Ballan Wrasse - Common Cuttlefish - Common Lobster - Conger Eel - Cuckoo Wrasse - Dogfish - Jewel Anemone - Red Sea Fish
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