Metridiidae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
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 ...
s in the
order Actiniaria.
[Metridiidae]
World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
Characteristics
Members of the family Metridiidae are characterised by having a mesogloeal sphincter muscle and by the mesenterial arrangement, with the
mesenteries
In zoology, a mesentery is a membrane inside the body cavity of an animal. The term identifies different structures in different phyla: in vertebrates it is a double fold of the peritoneum enclosing the intestines; in other organisms it forms co ...
not being divided into macronemes and microcnemes. The acontia typically have microbasic b-mastigophors and microbasic amastigophors, though the latter are not always present in adults.
[
]
Genera
The following genera are recognised by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS):Metridium
Members of the genus ''Metridium'', also known as plumose anemones, are sea anemones found mostly in the cooler waters of the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They are characterized by their numerous threadlike tentacles extending from ato ...
'' Blainville, 1824
*'' Paraisometridium Zamponi, 1978''
Of these, ''Metridium'' is the most speciose while ''Paraisometridium'' is monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
.
References
Metridioidea
Cnidarian families
{{Actiniaria-stub