Strawberry Anemones

Biology/Natural History: The knobbed tentacles contain very large cnidae, easy to view under the microscope. Undischarged cnidae have osmotic pressures up to 140 atmospheres. Has been observed in the lab to defend against attack by Anthopleura elegantissima by extending its cnidae-rich mesenteries through the mouth. This species reproduces asexually by longitudinal fission. Clones are all the same color. Feeds on copepods, nauplius larvae, and other small animals.

Geographical Range: This species is said to be common in some areas of southern California but I have not often encountered it. It occurs from British Columbia to San Martin Island, Baja California but is rarely found intertidally north of California.

Depth Range: Intertidal to 30 m

This species is one of the few Corallimorph cnidarians found in our area, and the only one in Kozloff's key. Corallimorphs are not true anemones. The most obvious difference is that their tentacles end in knobs, as are visible in the picture above. The tentacles are not fully retractile, and are usually white. Corallimorphs are also very similar to corals in some other characters, but lack the hard coral skeleton. This species is often found in groups, with individuals up to 2 cm long or even more. May be colored red, crimson, pink, purple, pale blue, lavender, brown, orange, buff, or nearly white.

How to Distinguish from Similar Species: There are no other anemone-like species in our area with club-tipped tentacles. The orange cup coral Balanophyllia elegans is of similar size and often similar color but has a hard skeleton and does not have club-tipped tentacles.

Rocky shores, concrete wharf pilings, plastic foam floats. Especially where there are strong currents.