Philippe & Guido T. Poppe, Philippinen
Info
Anthopleura japonica is a little known sea anemone that follows a dual strategy for its diet, it has endosymbionts that provide it with energy products via photosynthesis, and also captures small zooplankton:
Food:
Mainly small planktonic organisms, microscopic animals and plants that live in the ocean.
Sea anemomes catch their food in their sticky tentacles and pull it into their mouths.
They also eat parts of dead organisms like jellyfish floating in the water and the larvae of all kinds of animals.
Like many corals, the anemone also forms symbiotic relationships with other organisms. These are usually algae (plants) or dinoflagellates (single-celled organisms that belong to neither the plant nor animal kingdoms) that live in the anemone's body.
The presence of these symbiotic organisms affects the color of the anemone. If they have no symbionts, they are white.
Habitat:
Anthopleura japonica is found on rocks in the low and mid intertidal zone (the part of the beach that is covered daily by the tides), they can also be found in rock pools.
When an anemone is not in a rock pool at low tide, it retracts its tentacles and closes to prevent excessive water loss, making the anemone additionally difficult to see.
They also live in subtidal zones, at depths of up to 25 meters.
Aggregation anemones (found all over the world) often live in groups, hence their name.
The tentacles of the anemone are regularly arranged in five rows, they are grayish light brown, the mouth is located in the middle of the upper side.
Reproduction is not spectacular in these animals:
When an anemone reaches a certain size (about 3 cm), it simply divides into two parts = clonal reproduction, genetically identical individuals are produced.
Synonyms:
Anthopleura macmurrichi
Anthopleura mcmurrichi Wassilieff, 1908
Gyractis japonica (Verrill, 1899)
Food:
Mainly small planktonic organisms, microscopic animals and plants that live in the ocean.
Sea anemomes catch their food in their sticky tentacles and pull it into their mouths.
They also eat parts of dead organisms like jellyfish floating in the water and the larvae of all kinds of animals.
Like many corals, the anemone also forms symbiotic relationships with other organisms. These are usually algae (plants) or dinoflagellates (single-celled organisms that belong to neither the plant nor animal kingdoms) that live in the anemone's body.
The presence of these symbiotic organisms affects the color of the anemone. If they have no symbionts, they are white.
Habitat:
Anthopleura japonica is found on rocks in the low and mid intertidal zone (the part of the beach that is covered daily by the tides), they can also be found in rock pools.
When an anemone is not in a rock pool at low tide, it retracts its tentacles and closes to prevent excessive water loss, making the anemone additionally difficult to see.
They also live in subtidal zones, at depths of up to 25 meters.
Aggregation anemones (found all over the world) often live in groups, hence their name.
The tentacles of the anemone are regularly arranged in five rows, they are grayish light brown, the mouth is located in the middle of the upper side.
Reproduction is not spectacular in these animals:
When an anemone reaches a certain size (about 3 cm), it simply divides into two parts = clonal reproduction, genetically identical individuals are produced.
Synonyms:
Anthopleura macmurrichi
Anthopleura mcmurrichi Wassilieff, 1908
Gyractis japonica (Verrill, 1899)
