marineLife > sealord  > Nature > Guernsey marine life by major species groups > Guernsey cnidaria
hydrozoa (hydroids), scyphozoa (jellyfish), and Alcyonaria (soft corals, sea fans, & sea pens)

More images of sea anemones (actiniaria) can be seen in the Belle Greve Bay gallery at http://sealord.smugmug.com/gallery/3514797#133517495

Images of jewel anemones, plumose anemones and elegant anemones, Sagartia elegans, can be viewed in the QE II marina gallery at http://sealord.smugmug.com/gallery/3514775#102060423

Images of a large number of beadlet anemones can be seen in the Sark Caves gallery at http://sealord.smugmug.com/gallery/3514757#195151167
Gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  5  >  
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sealord > The orange and white variety of the anemone, Sagartia elegans, photographed on the side of a pontoon in the Queen Elizabeth 2 marina north of St. Peter Port harbour, Guernsey, Channel Islands, British Isles on 19 September 2004. File No. 190904 16-753 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > A daisy anemone, Cereus pedunculatus, displays its oral disc and tentacles above the sand in Belle Greve Bay on Guernsey's east coast. The white disc of a foraminifera, Fissurina orbignyana, lies on the oral disc of the sea anemone. Photographed on the 17 February 2007 File No. 170207 14-878 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > This daisy anemone, Cereus pedunculatus, was photographed at La Valette on Guernsey's east coast on 14 November 2004. File No. 21-758 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > This tiny anemone, Gonactinia prolifera, is common in the Queen Elizabeth 2 marina, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. This anemone rarely grows larger than 5 mm in height including the tentacles. R.L. Manuel who wrote "British Anthozoa" as part of the Synopses of the British Fauna states "this is the smallest known sea anemone." It is a very active species being able to swim and to move around over the substrate. It reproduces asexually by transverse fission. This image shows the anemone in the process of transverse fission with two sets of tentacles. The base of the column with the shorter tentacles protruding will become another anemone. Photographed on 3 September 2005 File No. 26-794 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > This anemone, Calliactis parasitica, lives in association with a hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus, that occupies the shell of a common whelk, Buccinum undatum. Sometimes the anemone will attach to an empty whelk shell or a rock but normally it is carried around on the whelk shell by the hermit crab and feeds on the bits of food discarded by the hermit crab. The sea anemone probably provides the hermit crab with some protection from fish predation. This sea anemone was given to me to photograph by Guernsey commercial fisherman Phil Ryan. The sea anemone, which was attached to a whelk shell, was caught up in one of his gill nets. Photographed on the 20 November 2004. The molluscs in the foreground, below the column of the anemone, are American slipper limpets, Crepidula fornicata. This species is native to the eastern seaboard of the USA. It was introduced to European waters in 1887 with a shipment of oysters. File No. 201104 31-756 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > Guernsey commercial fisherman, Phil Ryan, provided me with this large Calliactis parasitica sea anemone which was attached to a whelk shell. Photographed on 20 November 2004. File No. 201104 29-760 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > The pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, is a protected species in UK waters. It is not uncommon in Guernsey waters. It grows slowly over decades. The fan grows perpendicularly to the direction of the prevailing current so that the polyps with their stinging tentacles have the maximum opportunity to capture food that is carried by the current. Occasionally a sea fan is dislodged from the sea floor by mobile fishing gear or by static gear that has been caught up in a strong swell. Once the sea fan is brought to the surface it cannot survive unless it can be reattached to the sea floor. The colony has a dark brown central skeleton. The pink outer tissue bleaches white when the colony dies and this outer layer will eventually fall off revealing the gorgonin skeleton underneath. This colony was photographed on 10 February 2006. File No. 100206 34-814 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > This image shows the polyps of the pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, extended and feeding. In Guernsey waters a sea slug or nudibranch, Tritonia nilsodhneri, is often associated with this coral. It has cryptic colouration so it is difficult to spot. See http://sealord.smugmug.com/gallery/1935666_37H5G#100427410 This nudibranch is a specialist predator of this sea fan. It lays its eggs in a winding ribbon on the sea fan so that when the embryos hatch they have an amply food supply. The nudibranch is able to neutralise the stinging cells of this sea fan and incorporate the stinging cells in its own tissue for its own defence. Photographed on the 10 February 2006. File No. 100206 2-815 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
sealord > This image shows another view of the pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, with the polyps extended. The pink sea fan is a colonial organism. It is slow growing and long lived, which is one reason why it is a legally protected species in the United Kingdom. Each polyp of the colony is genetically identical and has eight tentacles (octocorallia). Underneath the living tissue is a dark brown horny material which provides skeletal support for the colony. This skeleton remains after the colony dies. This pink sea fan was brought up to the surface accidentally by fishing gear. Photographed on 10 February 2006. File No. 100206 27-814 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
The pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, is a protected species in UK waters. It is not uncommon in Guernsey waters. It grows slowly over decades. The fan grows perpendicularly to the direction of the prevailing current so that the polyps with their stinging tentacles have the maximum opportunity to capture food that is carried by the current.

Occasionally a sea fan is dislodged from the sea floor by mobile fishing gear or by static gear that has been caught up in a strong swell. Once the sea fan is brought to the surface it cannot survive unless it can be reattached to the sea floor. The colony has a dark brown central skeleton. The pink outer tissue bleaches white when the colony dies and this outer layer will eventually fall off revealing the gorgonin skeleton underneath.

This colony was photographed on 10 February 2006.
File No. 100206 34-814
©RLLord
fishinfo@guernsey.net
> The pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, is a protected species in UK waters. It is not uncommon in Guernsey waters. It grows slowly over decades. The fan grows perpendicularly to the direction of the prevailing current so that the polyps with their stinging tentacles have the maximum opportunity to capture food that is carried by the current. Occasionally a sea fan is dislodged from the sea floor by mobile fishing gear or by static gear that has been caught up in a strong swell. Once the sea fan is brought to the surface it cannot survive unless it can be reattached to the sea floor. The colony has a dark brown central skeleton. The pink outer tissue bleaches white when the colony dies and this outer layer will eventually fall off revealing the gorgonin skeleton underneath. This colony was photographed on 10 February 2006. File No. 100206 34-814 ©RLLord fishinfo@guernsey.net
The pink sea fan, Eunicella verrucosa, is a protected species in UK waters. It is not uncommon in Guernsey waters. It grows slowly over decades. The fan grows perpendicularly to the direction of the prevailing current so that the polyps with their stinging tentacles have the maximum opportunity to capture food that is carried by the current.

Occasionally a sea fan is dislodged from the sea floor by mobile fishing gear or by static gear that has been caught up in a strong swell. Once the sea fan is brought to the surface it cannot survive unless it can be reattached to the sea floor. The colony has a dark brown central skeleton. The pink outer tissue bleaches white when the colony dies and this outer layer will eventually fall off revealing the gorgonin skeleton underneath.

This colony was photographed on 10 February 2006.
File No. 100206 34-814
©RLLord
fishinfo@guernsey.net
Other sizes: Small • M • L • O |
filename: Eunicella verrucosa alive CB pot 100206 34-814 smg |
Keywords: guernsey colonial colony verrucosa polyp cnidaria plexauridae sea fan eunicella gorgonacea guernsey marine life british marine life alcyonaria octocorallia channel islands marine life
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< 25 of 44 >

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