African Invertebrates
Info
Preliminary information:
Unfortunately, two important scientific documents are not freely available to supplement the limited information available on the anemone Peachia parasitica and its behavior:
The occurrence of the anemone Peachia parasitica as a symbiont in the scyphozoan Cyanea capillata in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
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Association between the parasitic larvae of the sea-anemone Peachia sp. (Cnidaria: Haloclavidae) and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in the temperate Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.
Peachia is a genus of anemones, but quite different from the large, gently swaying specimens seen in coral reefs, where happy families of nemo-like anemonefish cavort.
Peachia parasitica is a member of the anemone family Haloclavidae, which is common throughout the western Atlantic.
Unlike other anemones, this species is a parasite and parasitizes jellyfish, usually Cyanea capillata, but is known to parasitize other members of Cyanea.
The few publications on Peachia suggest that it may be a facultative parasite; McDermott et al.
The biology of Peachia parasitica is not well known, and its effects on its host are not yet known.
Distribution: east coast (Gulf of Maine) and west coast of North America, and from the east coast of Greenland.
The inclusion of this species in the South African fauna is based on a single specimen collected by Dr. Deborah Robertson-Andersson in 2011. The anemone was collected in Table Bay during a boat expedition to collect jellyfish.
The juvenile was found on the underside of the medusa of the jellyfish Chrysaora fulgida.
Peachia parasitica is distinguished from Peachia sp. by the unmarked tentacles and oral disc of the former, and by the tendency of juveniles to live as parasites.
Juveniles of the anemone Peachia parasitica, which lives on the umbrella jellyfish Cyanea capillata, were collected from Virginia, extending the southern limit of this species.
The anemones were easily maintained in the laboratory, and one lived for over four years.
WoRMS states from the North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) source that the anemone feeds on sea urchins, snails, mollusks, or crustaceans that crawl or swim into its habitat. This is then more likely to apply to the polyp stage of the jellyfish.
Synonyms:
Bicidiopsis arctica Verrill, 1922
Bicidiopsis tubicola Verrill, 1922
Bicidium parasitica Agassiz, 1861
Bicidium parasiticum Agassiz, 1861
Peachia quinquepunctata McMurray
Philomedusa parasitica (Agassiz, 1861)
Siphonactinia parasitica (Agassiz, 1861)
Source:
African Invertebrates
Laird MC, Griffiths CL (2016) Additions to the South African sea anemone (Cnidaria, Actiniaria) fauna, with expanded distributional ranges for known species. African Invertebrates 57(1): 15-37.
https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.57.8459
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Unfortunately, two important scientific documents are not freely available to supplement the limited information available on the anemone Peachia parasitica and its behavior:
The occurrence of the anemone Peachia parasitica as a symbiont in the scyphozoan Cyanea capillata in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
+
Association between the parasitic larvae of the sea-anemone Peachia sp. (Cnidaria: Haloclavidae) and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) in the temperate Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.
Peachia is a genus of anemones, but quite different from the large, gently swaying specimens seen in coral reefs, where happy families of nemo-like anemonefish cavort.
Peachia parasitica is a member of the anemone family Haloclavidae, which is common throughout the western Atlantic.
Unlike other anemones, this species is a parasite and parasitizes jellyfish, usually Cyanea capillata, but is known to parasitize other members of Cyanea.
The few publications on Peachia suggest that it may be a facultative parasite; McDermott et al.
The biology of Peachia parasitica is not well known, and its effects on its host are not yet known.
Distribution: east coast (Gulf of Maine) and west coast of North America, and from the east coast of Greenland.
The inclusion of this species in the South African fauna is based on a single specimen collected by Dr. Deborah Robertson-Andersson in 2011. The anemone was collected in Table Bay during a boat expedition to collect jellyfish.
The juvenile was found on the underside of the medusa of the jellyfish Chrysaora fulgida.
Peachia parasitica is distinguished from Peachia sp. by the unmarked tentacles and oral disc of the former, and by the tendency of juveniles to live as parasites.
Juveniles of the anemone Peachia parasitica, which lives on the umbrella jellyfish Cyanea capillata, were collected from Virginia, extending the southern limit of this species.
The anemones were easily maintained in the laboratory, and one lived for over four years.
WoRMS states from the North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS) source that the anemone feeds on sea urchins, snails, mollusks, or crustaceans that crawl or swim into its habitat. This is then more likely to apply to the polyp stage of the jellyfish.
Synonyms:
Bicidiopsis arctica Verrill, 1922
Bicidiopsis tubicola Verrill, 1922
Bicidium parasitica Agassiz, 1861
Bicidium parasiticum Agassiz, 1861
Peachia quinquepunctata McMurray
Philomedusa parasitica (Agassiz, 1861)
Siphonactinia parasitica (Agassiz, 1861)
Source:
African Invertebrates
Laird MC, Griffiths CL (2016) Additions to the South African sea anemone (Cnidaria, Actiniaria) fauna, with expanded distributional ranges for known species. African Invertebrates 57(1): 15-37.
https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.57.8459
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
