''Epiactis prolifera'', the brooding, proliferating or small green anemone, 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 ...

of marine invertebrate in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Actiniidae Actiniidae is the largest family of sea anemones, to which most common, temperate, shore species belong. Most members of this family do not participate in symbioses with fishes. Three exceptions are the bubble-tip anemone (with anemonefish and ...

.Fautin, D. (2010). ''Epiactis prolifera'' Verrill, 1869. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=283435 on 2011-07-20 It is found in the north-eastern Pacific. It has a feature rare among animals in that all individuals start life as females but develop

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoste ...

later in their lives to become hermaphrodites.

Description

The brooding anemone grows to three centimetres high and up to five centimetres in diameter and varies in colour, usually being greenish-brown but sometimes brown, pink, red or dull green. There are fine white lines starting at the mouth and spreading radially across the oral disc and further white lines occur on the column and pedal disc.''Epiactis prolifera
Cowles, David. Walla Walla University
/ref> The lower part of the column and pedal disc are occasionally blue. There are often radiating pale and dark lines on the edges of the pedal disc and the lower part of the column. The mouth is surrounded by 48 to 96 short, conical

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work ma ...

s each tipped with a terminal pore.

Distribution and habitat

The brooding anemone is found in shallow areas of the north-east

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The highest density is on or under rocks in the

sublittoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal area ...

zone, in surge channels, on rock shelves and areas exposed to wave action. It is often found in areas encrusted with

coralline algae Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of ...

and sometimes grows on the leaves of

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass * ''Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass {{Short pages monitor