Anthopleura aureoradiata
Encyclopedia
Anthopleura aureoradiata, also known as the small brown sea anemone, is a small anemone
about 10 mm wide in diameter and very brown in colour. The brownish tinge of its outer surface makes it much harder to distinguish and find unlike some of the others in the Cnidaria
phylum. This particular class of anemone can be seen under water as a small brown ring in soft fine sediment and slightly submerged.
This brown anemone has quite a high tolerance to changes in salinity
and to a high concentration of organic matter in the water.
s who with they form a commensal
relationship as the anemone gets protection and the cockle becomes more camouflaged and so can hide better from predators such as the Mud Flat Whelk or sea gulls.
develops into a pear-shaped planula
which attaches to rocks or solid substrate and develops into a young adult.
Anemone
Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...
about 10 mm wide in diameter and very brown in colour. The brownish tinge of its outer surface makes it much harder to distinguish and find unlike some of the others in the Cnidaria
Cnidaria
Cnidaria is a phylum containing over 9,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance,...
phylum. This particular class of anemone can be seen under water as a small brown ring in soft fine sediment and slightly submerged.
This brown anemone has quite a high tolerance to changes in salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
and to a high concentration of organic matter in the water.
Habitat
The small brown anemone is distributed throughout estuaries in current-free areas. They all usually found attached to cockleCockle (bivalve)
Cockle is the common name for a group of small, edible, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae.Various species of cockles live in sandy sheltered beaches throughout the world....
s who with they form a commensal
Commensalism
In ecology, commensalism is a class of relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits but the other is neutral...
relationship as the anemone gets protection and the cockle becomes more camouflaged and so can hide better from predators such as the Mud Flat Whelk or sea gulls.
Reproduction
Fertilization is external and the zygoteZygote
A zygote , or zygocyte, is the initial cell formed when two gamete cells are joined by means of sexual reproduction. In multicellular organisms, it is the earliest developmental stage of the embryo...
develops into a pear-shaped planula
Planula
A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, ciliated, bilaterally symmetric larval form of various cnidarian species. The planula forms from the fertilized egg of a medusa, as the case in scyphozoans and some hydrozoans, or from a polyp, as in the case of anthozoans...
which attaches to rocks or solid substrate and develops into a young adult.