''Radianthus magnifica'', also known by as magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of

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 ...

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

that is native to the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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 ...

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 (biology), class of Anthozoa comprising approximately 4,300 species of aquatic organisms formed of polyp (zoology), polyps, generally with 6-fold symmetry. It includes all of the stony corals, most of which are Colony (b ...

, 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, the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

included, to

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

and from southern Japan to Australia and New-Caledonia 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 system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

of its symbiotic zooxanthellae, 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 ( ) 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. The name gamete was introduced by the Ge ...

in the water or

asexual Asexual or Asexuals may refer to: *Asexual reproduction **Asexual reproduction in starfish *Asexuality, the lack of sexual attraction to anyone or lack of interest in or desire for sexual activity. **Gray asexuality, the spectrum between asexualit ...

by scissiparity, 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 ...

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 and their host sea anemones is highly

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

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 mag ...

''. The species of anemonefish hosted by the magnificent sea anemone are: *'' Amphiprion akallopisos'' (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=Q105888748, from2=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