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Cloning AnemoneAnthopleura elegantissima |
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These anemones used to be called aggregating anemones, because they aggregate together into large groups. We now know these aggregates of anemones are actually genetic clones of one another, each being an exact duplicate of its neighbor, just like identical twins. They are abundant on rock faces or wharf pilings, in tide pools or crevices, and can be found singly or in dense aggregations from Alaska to Baja California. They eat copepods, isopods, amphipods and other small animals that contact the tentacles. In turn, they are preyed upon by nudibranchs, snails, and sea stars (such as the ochre and batstar). Aggregating individuals are generally around 3 inches (8 cm.) in crown diameter, while solitary individuals are often larger, up to almost 10 inches (25 cm.) in diameter. The crown is green to white, with numerous short tentacles colored with pink, blue or lavender tips. The column has wart like structures called tubercles, to which pebbles, shell fragments, and bits of seaweed adhere to. This coating reduces dehydration from the sun at low tide. So when the animals are contracted, their bodies form low mounds looking like a bed of coarse sand or shell gravel. |
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Sexual reproduction occurs between February and September, but these anemones can also reproduce asexually (creating an identical twin) by a process called longitudinal fission. When genetically different anemones meet, it's WAR! They pull out their stinging tentacles (the short white tentacles seen at the top of this page) and fight. Adjacent aggregates of clones are usually separated by an anemone-free zone up to two inches (5 cm.) wide. |
Last modified: June 10, 1997 by Marti
Comments, complaints, compliments -- marti@cse.ucsc.edu