Overview

Key Features:

Smooth red column, and tentacles are usually all white (but sometimes red-tipped).

Similar Species:

White-spotted rose anemone (Cribrinopsis albopunctata)
Sand-rose anemone (Urticina columbiana)
Christmas anemone, Painted anemone (Urticina grebelnyi)
Undescribed sp. 1 (Urticina sp. 1)

Primary Common Name:

Fish-eating anemone

Synonymous name(s):

Tealia piscivora

General Grouping:

Corals and anemones

Geographic Range:

Alaska to California

Alaska to southern Channel Islands, CA

Intertidal Height:

-2 to 0 feet (-0.6006006 to 0 meters)

Notes:

Uncommon in the intertidal of central California.

Subtidal Depth Range:

Minimum Depth: 0 meters or 0 feet
Maximum Depth: 48 meters or 159.84 feet

Notes:

Subtidal, often in kelp forests, to almost 50 m deep.

Habitats:

bay (rocky shore), exposed rocky shore, kelp forest, protected rocky shore

Notes:

Commonly found in kelp forests attached to rocky reef. May be on vertical walls or close to the base of reef.

Abundance:

Relative Abundance:

Common to abundant

Species Description:

General:

There are several species of Urticina, but each is slightly different from the other. Recent published research has clarified the taxonomy for some of the species that occur along the eastern Pacific.  To learn more about the changing taxonomy of these anemones, view the Sanamyan site at Actiniaria.com.  For SIMoN web site, as of February 2023, we are following the identification as used by Jensen et al. (2018) in the field guide "Beneath Pacific Tides."

The column of U. piscivora is brick red and very smooth, lacking any of the otherwise distinctive bumps (verrucae) found on congeners. Tentacles are usually solid white but can be mostly red, with a little dark gold basally. Oral disc is mostly a golden orange, with red markings surrounding the base of each tentacle and arranged in a radiating pattern from the center. Younger individuals have banding on the tentacles, with white tips, then a red/pink band, and white at the base. Young U. piscivora tentacles are similar to those of Urticina sp. 1 (not yet dscribed) but the column is still a solid, smooth red color in U. piscivora while it is pale red/pink and very bumpy for U. sp. 1.

Distinctive Features:

A smooth red column lacking verrucae (bumps on furrows) and about three rows of tentacles, usually solid white or red.

Size:

Tentacle diameter: to 35 cm
Basal diameter: to 20 cm
Height: to 25 cm

Natural History:

General:

U. piscivora is a common, sometimes abundant, inhabitant of kelp forests in central California. Like other anemones, it uses nematocysts to capture and consume prey. A nematocyst is produced by a specialized cell (cnidocyte or nematocyte) and includes a physically-activated trigger (cnidocil) that leads to an electro-chemical change in the cell. This in turn causes the hollow, coiled tube to shoot out of the operculum and force numerous barbs into the tissue contacting the cell. A neurotxin is then pumped in through this hollow, harpoon-like thread, which may lead to paralysis or death.

Although called the fish-eating anemone, there is evidence that the painted greenling Oxylebius pictus may actually associate with U. piscivora but remains unharmed.

Check out this video by the Hakai Institute.

 

Predator(s):

It is not known what, if anything, preys upon U. piscivora.

Prey:

Planktonic organisms and anything small enough that falls into the grasp of the tentacles and is unable to escape. Suspended detritus is also consumed.

Feeding Behavior:

Omnivore, Sessile suspension feeder

Notes:

Tentacles are packed with stinging cells that inject neurotoxin into the prey, subduing them quickly. Tentacles curl into the opening of the gastrovascular cavity (GVC), which serves as both mouth and anus--the way in is the same as the way out.

Issues

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary:

None known at this time.

References

• Sanamyan NP, Sanamyan KE, and McDaniel N.  2013.  Two new shallow water sea anemones of the family Actiniidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actinaria) from British Columbia (NE Pacific). Invertebrate Zoology 10(2):199-216

• Sanamyan NP, Sanamyan KE.  2006. The genera Urticina and Cribrinopsis (Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from the north‐western Pacific. Journal of Natural History, 40:7-8, 359-393, DOI: 10.1080/00222930600703532

• Gotshall, D. 2005. Guide to marine invertebrates : Alaska to Baja California. Sea Challengers, Monterey, CA. 117 p.
• Lamb, A. and B. P. Hanby. 2005. Marine life of the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing. 398 p.
• Pearse, V., J. Pearse, M. Buchsbaum, and R. Buchsbaum. 1994. Living invertebrates. Boxwood Press. 848 p.

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