Pachycerianthus fimbriatus
Species of sea anemone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pachycerianthus fimbriatus, commonly known as the sea sun, is a cerianthid sea anemone that burrows into substrate and lives in a semi-rigid tube made of felted nematocysts. The species is often seen in bright orange to red.
| Pachycerianthus fimbriatus | |
|---|---|
| |
| At Monterey Bay, CA, USA. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Subphylum: | Anthozoa |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Ceriantharia |
| Family: | Cerianthidae |
| Genus: | Pachycerianthus |
| Species: | P. fimbriatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pachycerianthus fimbriatus McMurrich, 1910[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Like most sea anemones, the tube-dwelling sea anemone contains stinging cells or nematocysts along its tentacles; however, the cells are not toxic to humans.
Ceriantharians possess two whorls of tentacles, one surrounding the mouth (labial tentacles) and one at the edge of the oral disk (marginal tentacles).
Distribution
This species was described from Indonesia. It is considered to be synonymous with Pachycerianthus plicatus which was described from the Pacific Ocean coast of North America.[2]
Biology
Pachycerianthus fimbriatus feeds on small crustaceans. The giant nudibranch Dendronotus iris has been documented to prey upon P. fimbriatus.