Details
Heteractis magnifica
The magnificent sea anemone is a large, colorful reef anemone. It shelters clownfishes and uses stinging tentacles to capture small animals.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits Indian and Pacific coral reefs. Individuals attach to sunlit reef slopes and rock where both light and water movement are strong.
Diameter 20-100 cm; weight 100 g-3 kg. A broad oral disc carries many tentacles, and the column may be purple, blue, green, or brown. A strong pedal disc anchors it to rock.
Cathemeral and solitary, it expands tentacles through much of the day and night. It opens to expose symbiotic algae to light and contracts when disturbed.
A carnivore, it stings small fishes and crustaceans with its tentacles. Nutrients from symbiotic algae also support the animal.
Adults can broadcast eggs and sperm, and some also multiply by splitting. Larvae drift before settling on firm reef substrate.
It is listed as Least Concern. Its clownfish partnership is famous, but local populations can be affected by reef bleaching and collection.
