Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) — Habitat, Photos

Q: Where can you find Magnificent Sea Anemone?

Magnificent Sea Anemone can be found in: Egypt East, Laccadive Islands, Mariana Islands, Saudi Arabia West, Oman North, Malaysia East, Taiwan, Marshall Islands, Malaysia West, Somalia East, Vanuatu, Sudan, Brunei, China, Myanmar, Eritrea, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Qatar, India, Israel, Japan South, India East, India West, Thailand East, Thailand West, Israel South, Saudi Arabia East, Indo-Pacific West, Oman, Oman East, Somalia North, Australia East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam, Seychelles, Cambodia, Indo-Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Iraq, Polynesia, Singapore, Tanzania, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, South Africa, Red Sea, Japan, Indonesia, Chagos Islands, Mozambique, Jordan, Palau, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Egypt, Tonga and Samoa, Yemen, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Kiribati, Pakistan, Djibouti, Iran South, United Arab Emirates, Comoros, Fiji, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Somalia.

Heteractis magnifica is a species of sea anemone belonging to the Stichodactylidae family native from the Indo-Pacific area.

Other names: Ritteri Anemone.

Description

The magnificent sea anemone is characterized by a flared oral disc which reaches between 20 and 50 centimeters in diameter but some specimens can reach one meter. The oral disc, the base of the tentacles and the oral orifice have the same color going from light beige to white. The numerous tentacles are exceeding 8 centimeters long. The sea anemone, being member of the Hexacorallia, usually carries a number of tentacles multiple of 6 and they are positioned in concentric circles. Their tip is fingered and often lighter in coloration than the tentacles body and have sometimes vivid colors. Its scientific and vernacular names come from the bright color of the column, which is the visible outer structure when the animal retracts, and these range from electric blue to green, red, pink, purple or brown.

Distribution

The magnificent sea anemone is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific area from the eastern coasts of Africa, Red Sea included, to Polynesia and from south Japan to Australia and New-Caledonia.

Habitat

This anemone likes hard substrates well exposed to light and current from the surface to 20 meters deep. While usually found down to 20 metres deep, it has been observed down to 40 meters deep.

Biology

The magnificent sea anemone has two ways to feed. The first one is through the inside via photosynthesis of its symbiotic hosts zooxanthellae, living in its tissues. And the second one is through a normal way by capturing its preys via its tentacles that allow it to immobilize its prey (small invertebrates, fry or juvenile fish).

The reproduction of the anemone can be sexual by simultaneous transmission of male and female gametes in the water or asexual by scissiparity. This means that the anemone divides itself into two separate individuals from the foot or the mouth. The magnificent sea anemone is found as solitary specimens throughout its range with aggregations only being found in the rim areas of its distribution. Genetic analyses does not suggest a difference between solitary specimens in the central distribution and clustering specimens at the rim. Asexual reproduction is found only in the rim areas and is probably the origin of the large aggregations.

The relationship between anemonefish and their host sea anemones is highly nested in structure. With 12 species of hosted anemonefish, the magnificent sea anemone is highly generalist. The anemonefish it hosts are also mostly generalist, with the A. pacificus being only hosted by H magnifica. The other specialised fish is A. akallopisos which is also hosted by Stichodactyla mertensii. The species of anemonefish hosted by the magnificent sea anemone are: