Elephant ear anemone

Description

The visible part of its body corresponds to its oral region and forms a flexible disc, when it is deployed, endowed with cone-shaped tentacles. It is distinguished by its numerous short, simple, conical tentacles, and few marginal tentacles. A. fenestrafer, may attain the largest size of any known corallimorpharian. Its diameter can reach 40 centimetres. It is generally a tan color, but depending upon where it was collected, the elephant ear coral may be ivory.

This is a large polyp that can actually change its shape fairly quickly (sometimes within a few seconds) from an open and flat disc-like form to a closed, onion-shaped polyp and trap an animal inside, which it will then eat. In fact, any fish or shrimp crossing over its broad surface that touches its short tentacles will trigger a closing action. Nevertheless, most animals seem to realize the danger and do not risk lingering on its surface. Yet during evening hours, if a fish attempts to sleep on the coral’s open surface area, it may become trapped inside, where it will become breakfast.

Distribution

In tropical waters Indo-West Pacific area.

Habitat

It is found in shallow waters in lagoons and tidepools, often in turbid and still waters. This coral is often forming small colony in 5–25 metres depth on the top reef.

Feeding

Its diet is highly varied and goes from the production of its zooxanthellae to numerous animals which find themselves trapped by the oral disk as benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, worms, echinoderms and even fishes. When the prey is trapped and that the anemone is starting its digestion the lobbed edges are raised towards the center of the disk and form as a ball.