Anemone in Fiji

The Critter ID forum is a fabulous idea! Here's an anemone that I photographed in the Vatu-I-Ra Channel in Fiji last year. The dive crew had only seen a couple of these, and I can't find it in the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide. Has anyone else seen one of these?

Never seen this coloUr variation but we have a black version in Seychelles - They are walking anemonae, generally more active during the night. During daylight they are wedged inside cracks in the reef and are often unnoticed.

They are walking anemonae...

Thanks, Bob, I never knew anemone could be mobile. That could explain the dive guide saying that he had seen two or three of them. He may have been seeing the same one.

I never knew anemone could be mobile.

This is how smaller anemonae get onto the shells of decorator crabs. I watched a time lapse video of this some years ago - Fascinating!

Believe it or not, I just recently learned that crinoids move around, so it shouldn't have surprised me that anemones can move too.

Thanks for the info!

Boy, do they! Especially at Komodo. They have crinoid olympics there.

This looks like a corallimorph, rather than an anemone. Similar to an anemone, but a bit more primitive on the evolutionary ladder.

Marli

Thanks, Marli, I learn something new every day! I'll try researching corallimorphs now instead of anemomes and see if I can find it.

Hi there !

Marli may have right, compare your anemone with Corallimorphus sp. in Colin & Arneson, 1995, p. 134

the colour is a bit different, but otherwise it's exactly the same !

colour variations in anemones and corallimorpharians are commom

cheers

Art

Thanks, Art. I don't have that book, but I'll see if any of our dive friends do.

Jim

I found a reference on this corallimorph: it is also found in Indonesia (I found it at Celebes Divers Edge of the Reef website.) It is an undescribed Pseudocorynactis sp. It is related to the Caribbean Orange Ball "Anemone".

Marli

Me again...also it is in Coral Reef Animals of the Indo Pacific (Gosliner, Behrens and Williams) but it's lighter in colour.

Marli