Common Names
Common Names in English:
Brooding Anemone, Proliferating Anemone, Small Green Anemone
Description
Physical Description
Species Epiactis prolifera
This anemone has no acontia, column has no tubercles
and no adherent
material
. The oral disk
often has narrow radiating white lines
which originate near the mouth
. The column color is greenish, reddish, or brownish. The edges
of the pedal disk
and the lower column commonly have radiating dark and light lines, but these lines do not extend more than halfway up the column. Commonly found externally brooding young of various sizes and year-round. Size up to 5 cm diameter, usually less, height
usually under 3 cm. Base
is often about twice the diameter of the column. May be brown, green, orange, blue, gray, solid or blotched
. May have brownish-red or dark green stripes
on column. Sometimes the lower column and pedal disk are blue[1]
The tentacles of this species end with a terminal
pore
.[1]
Habitat
On and under rocks and on algae and eelgrass , outer rocky coasts and in bays . Depth Range : Mid intertidal to subtidal .[1]
Biology
Diet
Probably feed on small crustaceans.[1]
Reproduction
Many individuals have tiny juvenile anemones attached near the base . Animals' sexual pattern is gynodioecious (small adults are female, larger adults are simultaneous hermaphrodites ), cross-fertilize though some self-fertilization also occurs. Eggs are fertilized inside female gastrovascular cavity , then are expelled. Cilia on the mother's surface move the eggs (or larvae?) down to small pits on the edges of the pedal disk where they attach via mucus and specialized large nematocysts in the mother's tissue . Live on mother's column (digesting yolk , then catching prey ) until at least 3 months old and 4 mm diameter, then crawl off.[1]
Behavior
Animals move freely about, often pack the bottoms of tidepools, and may be covered with camouflaging debris .[1]
Predators:
Predators include nudibranch Aeolidia papillosa and leather star Dermasterias imbricata. Mosshead sculpins may also eat them.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Radiata
()
- (Linnaeus, 1758) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Infrakingdom:
Coelenterata
()
- Leuckart, 1847
- Phylum:
Cnidaria
()
- Hatschek, 1888
- Cnidarians
- Subphylum:
Anthozoa
()
- (Ehrenberg, 1831) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Corals, Flower Animals
- Class:
Anthozoa
()
- Ehrenberg, 1831
- Corals, Flower Animals
- Subclass:
Zoantharia
()
- Order:
Actiniaria
()
- Sea Anemones
- Family:
Actiniidae
()
-
- Genus:
Epiactis
()
- (Verrill, 1869)
- Specific name:
prolifera
- Verrill, 1869
- Scientific name: - Epiactis prolifera Verrill, 1869
- Specific name:
prolifera
- Verrill, 1869
- Genus:
Epiactis
(
- Family:
Actiniidae
(
- Order:
Actiniaria
(
- Subclass:
Zoantharia
(
- Class:
Anthozoa
(
- Subphylum:
Anthozoa
(
- Phylum:
Cnidaria
(
- Infrakingdom:
Coelenterata
(
- Subkingdom:
Radiata
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Epiactis fertilis
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Fautin D.G., 15-Oct-2001.
Similar Species
Epiactis ritteri has broad radiating white lines on the oral disk which do not reach the mouth, breeds young internally, and becomes extremely flat when contracted. E. lisbethae can be up to 8 cm diameter and the radiating dark lines on the edges of the pedal disk extend all the way up to the top of the column. Small individuals which are closed can look similar to E. fernaldi, but look for tiny young of all the same size being brooded on the column (these are of several different sizes when found on E. prolifera and only seasonally). (Ref. 109953)
Members of the genus Epiactis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 23 species and subspecies in this genus:
E. adeliana · E. arctica (Arctic Brooding Anemone) · E. australiensis · E. brucei · E. fecunda · E. fernaldi (Fernald Brooding Anemone) · E. fertilis · E. georgiana · E. incerta · E. irregularis · E. japonica · E. laevisi · E. lisbethae (Lisbeth's Brooding Anemone) · E. marsupialis · E. mortenseni · E. neozealandica · E. nordmanni · E. thompsoni · E. prolifera (Proliferating Anemone) · E. prolifera prolifera (Proliferating Anemone) · E. ritteri (Ritter's Brooding Anemone) · E. thompsoni · E. vincentina
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- A manual of the common invertebrate animals, exclusive of insects / by Henry Sherring Pratt with over one thousand illustrations. Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Co., 1923. ENG url p. 143.
- Biologisches Zentralblatt. Leipzig [etc.]VEB Georg Thieme [etc.] GER url p. 474, p. 475, p. 479, p. 480.
- Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 240.
- Carotenoids, by Paul Karrer and Ernst Jucker. Translated and rev. by Ernest A. Braude. New York, Elsevier Pub. Co., 1950. ENG url p. 367, p. 88.
- Carotenoids, their comparative biochemistry. New York, Chemical Pub. Co., 1954. ENG url p. 159, p. 183, p. 331.
- Corals and coral islands. By James D. Dana New York, Dodd, Mead, and company[1890] ENG url p. 434, p. 440.
- Corals and coral islands. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low and Searle, 1875. ENG url p. 21, p. 343.
- Edmands, S. and D. C. Potts, 1997. Population genetic structure in brooding sea anemones (Epiactis spp) with contrasting reproductive modes. Marine Biology 127: 485-498.
- Energy and environmental stress in aquatic systems: selected papers from a symposium held at Augusta, Georgia, November 2-4, 1977 / sponsored by Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Assistant Secretary for Envir [Washington]: Technical Information Center, U.S. Dept. of Energy; 1978. ENG url p. 482.
- Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: ENG url p. 678.
- Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Oxford [etc.]Royal Microscopical Society. ENG url p. 45, p. 653.
- Occasional papers - San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, The Society. ENG url p. 4.
- Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 422.
- Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Washington, Washington Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 392.
- Publications - Puget Sound Biological Station. [Seattle?]Puget Sound Biological Station, University of Washington. ENG url p. 129.
- Textbook of zoology / by George Edwin Potter. St. Louis: Mosby, 1947. ENG url p. 774.
- The Biological bulletin. Woods Hole, Mass.: Marine Biological Laboratory, ENG url p. 116, p. 118, p. 148, p. 199, p. 201, p. 202, p. 203, p. 209, p. 211, p. 213, p. 217, p. 251, p. 288, p. 356, p. 367, p. 368, p. 468, p. 469, p. 471.
- The Cambridge natural history, ed. by S.F. Harmer and A.E. Shipley [London, Macmillan and co., limited;1895-1909] ENG url p. 379.
- The biology of marine animals. New York, Interscience Publishers[1960] ENG url p. 492, p. 690.
- Zoologische Jahrbücher. Jena [Germany]: G. Fischer, GER url p. 122.
- Zoologischer Anzeiger. Jena, VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. GER url p. 173, p. 258.
Notes
Contributors
- American Fisheries Society. Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Cnidaria and Ctenophora Second Edition. Special Publication 28. ISBN 1-888569-39-5.
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 20, 2007.
- Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
- Hexacorallians of the World 2001.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Gwaii Haanas Invertebrates (OBIS Canada)
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Hexacoral Database
- National Museum of Natural History: NMNH Invertebrate Zoology Collections
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2306479
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Hex-3898
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1474039
