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Swimming anemone
Sponge & Cnidarian
Swimming anemone
Stomphia coccinea (Müller, 1776)
WoRMS AphialID
100854
Sample IDs
HMSC174_01219 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCCN053-24; HMSC174_01103 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCCN044-24
Collected
Les Escoumins, St Lawrence, Quebec; Labrador
Distinguishing Features
• Anemone around 70 mm in height and diameter.
• Column smooth without vesicles and spreads onto the attachment surface (wider than the disk).
• Colour variable - can be red, orange, yellowish and often has white blotches.
• There are often radial red lines at the base of the tentacles and there may be white spots.
• Six tentacles in the inner cycle, 10–12 in the second, Around 70 tentacles in total.
Habitat
Attaches onto shells and pebbles. Often found in mixed sediment habitats.
Geographic Range
Arctic and both sides of the north Atlantic. Also found in the Pacific.
Fun Fact
If disturbed, this anemone can detach from the substrate and jump or swim. It does this by undulating its column.
Barcode Distribution
BIN contains specimens of Stomphia from Canada, some not identified to species. Some specimens of Stomphia didemnon from British Columbia (a Pacific species).
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