''Condylactis aurantiaca'', commonly known as the golden anemone, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea anemone Sea anemones ( ) are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemone ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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

. This species always remains largely buried in sand or sediment, attached to the substrate, with only the oral disc and tentacles visible.

Description

The column is translucent white with white spots, and grows to approximately in diameter. The oral disc may reach . The overall diameter with the tentacles spread out is around . This species usually has five whorls of tentacles, with 96 tentacles present when it is fully developed. The tentacles are each around long, green to yellow in colour, and sometimes greyish. They often have bands of white and other colours, and purple tips. The mouth, in the centre of the oral disc, is purplish.

Distribution and habitat

''Condylactis aurantiaca'' is found only in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

in depths of up to 80 metres. The base is attached to a rock, stone or shell and the column immersed in sediment, usually sand or gravel.

Ecology

Like other sea anemones, this species catches prey with its tentacles which are armed with many

cnidocyte A cnidocyte (also known as a cnidoblast) is a type of cell containing a large secretory organelle called a ''cnidocyst'', that can deliver a sting to other organisms as a way to capture prey and defend against predators. A cnidocyte explosively ...

s, stinging cells which kill the prey. The prey is then transferred by the tentacles to the mouth. This sea anemone reproduces in spring and summer by releasing gametes into the

water column The (oceanic) water column is a concept used in oceanography to describe the physical (temperature, salinity, light penetration) and chemical ( pH, dissolved oxygen, nutrient salts) characteristics of seawater at different depths for a defined ...

where they are fertilised and develop into

planula A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, ciliated, bilaterally symmetric larval form of various cnidarian species and also in some species of Ctenophores, which are not related to cnidarians at all. Some groups of Nemerteans also produce larva ...

larvae. Alternatively, the gametes can be retained in the body cavity, the larvae being brooded there till the spring. The shrimp species '' Periclimenes aegylios'' may be found living symbiotically with this sea anemone.

References

External links

Photos of ''Condylactis aurantiaca'' in th
Sealife Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2459391 Actiniidae Animals described in 1825 Taxa named by Stefano delle Chiaje