Anthopleura michaelseni, commonly known as the long-tentacled anemone or crevice anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae.[1] It is native to very shallow water round the coasts of southern Africa between Lüderitz and Durban.
| Anthopleura michaelseni | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Actiniaria |
| Family: | Actiniidae |
| Genus: | Anthopleura |
| Species: | A. michaelseni
|
| Binomial name | |
| Anthopleura michaelseni (Pax, 1920)
| |
Description
editThe long-tentacled anemone is a large anemone of up to 15 cm in diameter. Its column has large sticky pads to which sand and debris particles adhere. On the oral surface, dark stripes run from the mouth to the tentacles. It has 96 long tentacles with small round protrusions (spherules) at their base.[2]
Distribution
editThe long-tentacled anemone is found only around the southern African coast from Luderitz to Durban. It lives from the mid-shore and down to 10m in depth. The long-tentacled anemone is often found partially buried in sand in rock crevices.[2]
Ecology
editSea anemones lack the free-swimming medusal stage of the lifecycle of the typical Cnidarian; the long-tentacled anemone produces eggs and sperm, and the fertilized egg develops into a planula larva which drifts as part of the plankton before settling on the seabed and developing directly into a juvenile sea anemone.*[3]
References
edit
- ^ Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 978-1-77007-772-0
- ^ a b Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9
- ^ Ruppert, Edward E.; Fox, Richard, S.; Barnes, Robert D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology, 7th edition. Cengage Learning. p. 146. ISBN 978-81-315-0104-7.
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