Calliactis tricolor
| Calliactis tricolor | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Anthozoa |
| Order: | Actiniaria |
| Family: | Hormathiidae |
| Genus: | Calliactis |
| Species: | C. tricolor |
| Binomial name | |
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Calliactis tricolor (Lesueur, 1817) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Calliactis tricolor, the tricolor anemone or hitchhiking anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It can be found attached to rocks but is often attached to a living crab or mollusc or an empty shell occupied by a hermit crab.
Calliactis tricolor is conical in shape with a smooth outer surface and a wide base. The height of the column varies from 2.5 to 7.5 centimetres (0.98 to 2.95 in). The colour is some shade of dull red, brown, olive or purple with cream stripes and there is a band of dark coloured spots near the base. The oral disc has a fringe of about 200 short white, orange or pink tentacles. The mouth is in the centre surrounded by bands of yellow, red and pinkish-purple colour. When threatened by a predator, the anemone can release orange or white threads armed with stinging cnidocytes.
Calliactis tricolor is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern coast of Florida.
Calliactis tricolor can reproduce asexually by longitudinal fission. Prior to that observation, its method of reproduction was unknown, but the finding of a number of very small specimens in one location indicates that sexual reproduction may also sometimes take place.
Calliactis tricolor may adhere to a rock but is usually found attached to the hard surface of a living animal. This can be the carapace of a crab, a hermit crab occupying an empty gastropod shell, a clam or other living mollusc such as the tulip shell (Fasciolaria tulipa) or the Caribbean crown conch (Melongena melongena). This is a symbiotic relationship; the anemone benefits from greater access to food as its host moves around, and the host benefits from the protection from predators provided by the anemone's stinging cells.
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Wikipedia