The Venus flytrap sea anemone (''Actinoscyphia aurelia'') is a large

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 ...

that superficially resembles a Venus flytrap. It closes its tentacles to capture prey or to protect itself. It is a deep ocean species.

Distribution

This sea anemone is found in muddy situations at

bathyal The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagic ...

depths in deep water canyons in the Gulf of Mexico. It has also been observed at several sites in the upwelling region off the coast of West Africa as well as the American Samoan region of the Pacific, but is uncommon elsewhere.

Biology

Venus flytrap sea anemone is a passive

suspension feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

, and orients itself on its often slender column so that it faces the upwelling current. Its pedal disc is small, and its

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 main ...

s are short compared to the large, concave oral disc, which is funnel or mushroom-shaped. It extends its tentacles in two rows, one reflexed back and one sloping forward, and collects food particles as they drift past. Although usually considered

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, the Venus flytrap sea anemone sometimes moves, particularly as a juvenile. During deep water research off Cap Blanc,

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

, at depths between , the Venus flytrap sea anemone and the irregular sea urchin ''

Pourtalesia miranda ''Pourtalesia miranda'', commonly known as the wonderful sea urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Pourtalesiidae. It is found at abyssal depths in the Atlantic Ocean. Description The thin-shelled test is bottle-shaped, more than twic ...

'' were found to dominate the

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

community. In 2004 a mass mortality event occurred adjoining an oil pipeline off the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. Large numbers of the

tunicate A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ca ...

Pyrosoma atlanticum ''Pyrosoma atlanticum'' is a pelagic species of marine colonial tunicate in the class Thaliacea found in temperate waters worldwide. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words ''pyros'' meaning 'fire' and ''soma'' meaning 'body', referring ...

'' were involved, the moribund carcasses sinking to the seabed and accumulating in canyons and by the pipeline. Species found feeding on the gelatinous

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...

varied by depth. At a depth of few

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

were present, but Venus flytrap sea anemones were numerous. Other scavenging

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s at this depth included the sea anemone ''

Actinostola ''Actinostola'' is a genus of sea anemones in the order Actiniaria. All members of this genus are deep-sea species, with some occurring at hydrothermal vents. Species The following species are recognised by the World Register of Marine Specie ...

'' sp., the

sea pen Sea pens are colonial marine cnidarians belonging to the order Pennatulacea. There are 14 families within the order; 35 extant genera, and it is estimated that of 450 described species, around 200 are valid. Sea pens have a cosmo ...

Pennatula ''Pennatula'' is a genus of sea pens in the family Pennatulidae. The genus contains several bioluminescent species, including Pennatula rubra, Pennatula phosphorea ''Pennatula'' is a genus of sea pens in the Family (biology), family Pennatuli ...

'' sp., the

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

s '' Phormosoma'' sp. and ''

Mesothuria ''Mesothuria'' is a genus of sea cucumbers belonging to the family Synallactidae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Mesothuria'': *'' Mesothuria abberviata'' Koehler & Vaney, 1 ...

'' sp., brittle stars in the family

Ophiolepididae Ophiolepididae are a family of brittle stars of the suborder Ophiurina. It includes both deep-sea and shallow-water species. Systematics and phylogeny The fossils of Ophiolepididae date back to the Anisian age of the Middle Triassic In the ge ...

, the penaeid shrimp '' Parapenaeus'' sp. and the sea spider ''

Colossendeis Colossendeis is a genus of sea spider (class Pycnogonida) belonging to the family Colossendeidae. The genus ''Colossendeis'' includes the largest pycnogonids, with leg spans of about . These sea spiders can be found in deep-sea. The genus cont ...

'' sp.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q743731 Actinoscyphiidae Cnidarians of the Atlantic Ocean Animals described in 1918 Taxa named by Thomas Alan Stephenson