''Heteractis magnifica'', also known by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predatory marine invertebrates of the order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the '' Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, ...

belonging to the

Stichodactylidae Stichodactylidae is a family of sea anemones that contains the genera ''Stichodactyla'' (carpet anemones) and ''Heteractis''. These sea anemones exclusively reside within the shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific area and are in the main f ...

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 ...

native to the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

area.

Description

The magnificent sea anemone is characterized by a flared oral disc, which reaches between 20 and 50 cm in diameter, but in some specimens, this can reach 1 m. The oral disc, the base of the tentacles, and the oral orifice have the same color, going from light beige to white. The numerous tentacles exceed 8 cm long. The

, being a member of the

Hexacorallia Hexacorallia is a class of Anthozoa comprising approximately 4,300 species of aquatic organisms formed of polyps, generally with 6-fold symmetry. It includes all of the stony corals, most of which are colonial and reef-forming, as well as al ...

, usually carries tentacles in multiples of six that are positioned in concentric circles. Their tips are fingered and often lighter in coloration than the tentacle body and are sometimes vividly colored. Its specific scientific name, ''magnifica'', and its vernacular name come from the bright color of the column, which is the visible outer structure when the animal retracts, and these range from electric blue to green, red, pink, purple, or brown.

Distribution and habitat

The magnificent sea anemone is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the

area, from the eastern coasts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

included, to

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

and from south

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New-Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

This anemone likes hard substrates well exposed to light and current from the surface to 20 m deep. It has been observed down to 40 m deep.

Biology

The magnificent sea anemone has two feeding methods. The first one is through the

photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in ...

of its symbiotic

zooxanthella Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus '' Sym ...

e, living in its tissues. The second method is through using its tentacles to stun, immobilize, and consume prey (small invertebrates, fry, or juvenile fish). The reproduction of the anemone can be sexual by simultaneous transmission of male and female

gametes A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce ...

in the water or asexual by

scissiparity Fission, in biology, is the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts to separate entities resembling the original. The object experiencing fission is usually a cell, but the term may also refer to how ...

, which means that the anemone divides itself into two individuals, separating from the foot or the mouth. The magnificent sea anemone is found as solitary specimens throughout its range with aggregations only being found in the rim areas of its distribution.

Genetic analyses Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts of ...

does not suggest a difference between solitary specimens in the central distribution and clustering specimens at the rim. Asexual reproduction is found only in the rim areas and is probably the origin of the large aggregations. The relationship between

anemonefish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus ''Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus ''Amphiprion''. In the wild, the ...

and their host sea anemones is highly

nested ''Nested'' is the seventh studio album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, released in 1978 on Columbia Records. Following on from her extensive tour to promote 1976's ''Smile'', which resulted in the 1977 live album '' Sea ...

in structure. With 12 species of hosted anemonefish, the magnificent sea anemone is highly generalist. The anemonefish it hosts are also mostly generalist, the exceptions being ''Amphiprion pacificus'', only hosted by ''H. magnifica'', and ''A. akallopisos'', which is also hosted by ''

Stichodactyla mertensii ''Stichodactyla mertensii'', commonly known as Mertens' carpet sea anemone, is a species of sea anemones in the family Stichodactylidae. It is regarded as the largest sea anemone with a diameter of over , the next largest being ''Heteractis magn ...

''. The species of anemonefish hosted by the magnificent sea anemone are: *''

Amphiprion akallopisos The nosestripe clownfish or nosestripe anemonefish, skunk clownfish, ''Amphiprion akallopisos'', is an anemonefish (also called clownfish) that lives in association with sea anemones. ''A. akallopisos'' is found in the Indian Ocean. It resides i ...

'' (skunk anemone fish) * ''A. akindynos'' (Barrier Reef anemonefish) * ''A. bicinctus'' (two-band anemonefish) * ''A. chrysogaster'' (Mauritian anemonefish) * ''A. chrysopterus'' (orange-fin anemonefish) * ''A. clarkii '' (Clark's anemonefish) * ''A. leucokranos'' (white-bonnet anemonefish) * ''A. melanopus'' (red and black anemonefish) * ''A. nigripes'' (Maldive anemonefish) * ''A. ocellaris'' (false clown anemonefish) * ''A. pacificus'' (Pacific anemonefish) * ''A. percula'' (clown anemonefish) * ''A. perideraion'' (pink skunk anemonefish) ''H. magnifica'' also hosts '' Dascyllus trimaculatus'', the threespot dascyllus, and various commensal shrimps.

Gallery

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q384085 Stichodactylidae Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Animals described in 1833 Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard