Knobbed anemone
| Knobbed anemone | ||||||||||||
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Knobbed anemone with Clark's anemonefish and young triangular Prussian fish . |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Cryptodendrum | ||||||||||||
| Klunzinger , 1877 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Cryptodendrum adhaesivum | ||||||||||||
| Klunzinger, 1877 |
The knobbed anemone ( Cryptodendrum adhaesivum , syn .: Stoichactis digitata ) is a sea anemone from the tropical coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific , from East Africa to the Marquesas and the Red Sea .
features
Knob edge anemones reach a diameter of 30 centimeters and are unmistakable due to their different colored, beaded and wave-like curved edge. Two different forms of tentacles sit on its broad mouth disc. At the edge of the mouth disc, the short tentacles, which become about 5 mm long, have a bubble-like thickening of about one millimeter in diameter at the end of the tentacle. The remaining tentacles are tiny and branched and with their five or more "fingers" resemble a small, inflated rubber glove. The tentacles are very sticky but won't tear off if you touch them and then withdraw your hand, as is the case with the genus Stichodactyla .
Knob border anemones are very colorful. The different tentacle zones always show a different color. There are characteristic color combinations such as yellow and pink, green and brown, gray and blue or black and white. In addition, the color of the base of the tentacles and the tip can be different. The mouth is about one centimeter in diameter and is bright yellow, green, purple, or white in color.
Way of life
Knobs edge anemones are symbiotic anemones , but exclusively by the Indian Ocean wild population of Clark's Anemonefish ( Amphiprion clarkii ) as symbiotic partners accepted. In addition, at least one species of the partner shrimp ( Periclimenes ), the hollow back shrimp ( Thor amboinensis ) and the procellular cancer Neopetrolisthes maculatus live on knobbed anemones, a community that is not to be assessed as a symbiosis, as the anemone does not benefit from it. Clark's anemonefish, on the other hand, defends its symbiotic anemone against predators, e.g. B. butterfly or file fishing . Like all symbiotic anemones, it houses zooxanthellae , symbiotic algae that contribute to the nutrition of their host.
literature
- Dapne G. Fautin, Gerald R. Allen : Anemonefish and their hosts , Tetra-Verlag (1994), ISBN 3-89356-171-4
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 1 , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1997, ISBN 3-88244-110-0
- Harry Erhardt / Horst Moosleitner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 3 , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1997, ISBN 3-88244-103-8
