''Corynactis californica'' is a brightly colored colonial anthozoan corallimorph. Unlike the Atlantic true sea anemone, ''

Actinia fragacea ''Actinia fragacea'', commonly known as the strawberry anemone, is a species of sea anemone of the order Actiniaria, that occurs from Norway to Africa, including adjacent islands (the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde) and the Mediterranean. ...

'', that bears the same common name, strawberry anemone, this species is a member of the order Corallimorpharia, and is the only member found in the North American West Coast. Other common names include club-tipped anemone and strawberry corallimorpharian. The anemone can live up to at least 50 meters deep on vertical rock walls, and at the bottom of kelp forests. It is known to carpet the bottom of some areas, like Campbell River in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The strawberry anemone grows no larger than 2.5 centimeters. The anemone can be red, pink, purple, brown, yellow, or completely white. They possess

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 that are white or transparent with bulbous tips. The strawberry anemone resembles sea anemones in that they lack a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...

skeleton, but are closer related to stony corals in that they lack basilar muscles. This species lacks photosynthetic symbionts. The strawberry anemone is known to reproduce both sexually and asexually, with asexual reproduction used to cover more available ground. The anemone is known to attack other species of sea anemone and

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

that they are competitive with, as to take over the areas left behind by the previous occupants. They attack with

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. Toxins occur especially as a protein or conjugated protein. The term toxin was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849 ...

s passed through prolonged contact. The same method is used in self-defense and in food consumption.

Reproduction

The strawberry anemone can reproduce both sexually and asexually through fission and budding. It is dioecious, and produces both egg strings and testicular cysts in sync through all

polyps A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) end i ...

in a clone. The

gamete 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 ...

s are stored in the mesoglea, in the gastrovascular cavity. They are typically produced in an annual cycle between August and November, and are spawned from late November to mid-December. Gametes are released into the surrounding water, where they form embryos that turn into

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

ic larvae within 2–3 days.

Behavior

The strawberry anemone has been shown to attack competing species of sea anemone and coral when in prolonged contact with them. Attacks are conducted after prolonged contact between the strawberry anemone's tentacles and rival species. The attack is done through releasing their

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 com ...

and attaching their mesenterial filaments, thin white strings that contain

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

s and toxins, with the rival species. With prolonged contact, they are able to kill off these species, and asexually reproduce to take over the space left behind. However, the strawberry anemone does not attack other members of its own species, a unique trait amongst surrounding anemone species. The strawberry anemone also used their mesenterial filaments for other reasons, including assisting in the consumption of larger prey, or as a self-defence mechanism against predators such as '' Dermasterias imbricata.''

Habitat

Studies conducted on ''Corynactis californica'' suggest that the anemone grows well under the canopies of

macroalgae Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

rather than outside of them. Species of macroalgae that the strawberry anemone live under include '' Macrocystis pyrifera'' and ''

Eisenia arborea ''Eisenia arborea'', or the southern sea palm (not to be confused with the sea palm), is a dominant species of kelp that is found on the western Pacific coast of North America, from Vancouver Island, Canada south to Mexico's Magdalena Island (Mex ...

''. ''Eisenia arborea'' may assist the anemone in protecting planktonic larvae, and directing food particles to polyps.

References

* *Carlgren, O. (1949). A survey of Ptychodactiaria, Corallimorpharia, and Actiniaria. Kungl. ''Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar'' 1: 1-121. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2998200 Corallimorphidae Anthozoa of the United States Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Fauna of California Marine fauna of North America Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Western North American coastal fauna Animals described in 1936