''Bunodosoma californicum'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

. It was first described to science by Oskar Carlgren in 1951. The type specimen that Carlgren used to describe the species was collected by Ed Ricketts in Puerto Escondido during his trip to the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

with

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

recounted in ''The Log From the Sea of Cortez''.

Description

The column is variable in color from olive green to greenish-brown to rusty red. The column may be up to tall, with a base between and wide. The column is covered in rounded bumps called vesicles. Unlike some similar sea anemones, these vesicles are not adhesive, and thus the column of ''Bunodosoma californica'' will typically be clean, not covered with bits of shell or other detritus. The vesicles are arranged in neat longitudinal rows at the base of the column and more random, but still densely packed, further up the column. They are about the same color as the column. The oral disc is the same color as the column and may have light radial lines. There are typically 80 conical tentacles arranged in three or four rings around the oral disc, but individuals vary and may have more or fewer tentacles. The basic color of the tentacles is the same as the column, and some individuals may show rose, purple or orange tints. The tentacles are often marked with white at their base. Tentacles are slightly shorter than the width of the oral disc.

Distribution

''Bunodosoma californicum'' lives on rocky bottoms from the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

to the subtidal. It can be found from the Gulf of California to Panama.

Life history

''Bunodosoma californium'' is a carnivore. It uses the stinging cells,

nematocysts A cnidocyte (also known as a cnidoblast or nematocyte) is an explosive cell containing one large secretory organelle called a cnidocyst (also known as a cnida () or nematocyst) that can deliver a sting to other organisms. The presence of this c ...

, in its tentacles to paralyze its prey. The tentacles then push the food into the mouth in the center of the oral disc. These anemones are gonochoric, that is there are two sexes and each animal is either male or female. They reproduce by

broadcast spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic ani ...

, releasing eggs and sperm into the sea to achieve fertilization. Some anemones are able to reproduce by

fission Fission, a splitting of something into two or more parts, may refer to: * Fission (biology), the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts into separate entities resembling the original * Nuclear fissio ...

, in essence cloning themselves. It is unknown whether this anemone is capable of asexual fission in addition to sexual reproduction.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2547079 Actiniidae Animals described in 1951