Cylinder anemone

Cerianthus membranaceus · The cylinder anemone is a large, tube-dwelling anemone that lives on the seabed in the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Also called Coloured tube anemone.

Cylinder anemone
Photo: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cylinder anemone
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cylinder anemone
Photo: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCnidaria
ClassAnthozoa
OrderCeriantharia
FamilyCerianthidae
GenusCerianthus
SpeciesCerianthus membranaceus

Where it lives

Mediterranean Sea and north-east Atlantic, north to Britain, on sandy or silty seabeds.

Fun facts

  • When threatened, the whole animal can pull back into its tube, and some tentacles grip the rim and pull the tube closed, making it seem to disappear.
  • If something disturbs it from below, like a burrowing sea urchin, it can eject itself from its tube, move away and make a new tube.
  • Its tentacles come in many colours, including white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple and violet, and the inner ring often contrasts with the outer one.
  • It starts life as a male and later becomes a female.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).