Horse stock line
| Horse stock line | ||||||||||||
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Horse actinia ( Actinia equina ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Actinia equina | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The horse actinia ( Actinia equina ) is a sea anemone ( order Actiniaria) and belongs to the class of flower animals (Anthozoa).
features
Horse action lines are red in color, they reach a height of six centimeters, the 192 pointed tentacles are up to two centimeters long. The tentacles are arranged in six circles on the edge of the mouth disc. Between the outer rim of the tentacles and the wall of the fuselage there are "marginal bags" which are loaded with nettle capsules. The prey consists of fish, crabs and mollusks. They come in two forms, which differ in size, habitat and the type of reproduction. Form 1 reaches a diameter of six to seven centimeters. It lives in the lower intertidal zone and lays eggs (oviparous). Form 2 reaches a diameter of 2.5 to three centimeters, lives in the upper intertidal zone and is viviparous . With them, the egg cells develop into planular larvae in the gastric space .
Horse action lines can run dry at low tide . They retract their tentacles and protect themselves from drying out by producing mucus.
Occurrence
Horse action lines are common in the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean on stony coasts in the intertidal zone . A. equina is one of the most common water lilies in the tidal area of the Mediterranean, Atlantic and North Sea coasts.
Surname
Linnaeus first described the horse actine line in 1758 as Priapus equinus , only later did he place it in the genus Actinia . Priapus was a Greek god of fertility who was often depicted with an oversized penis. Linnaeus compared the two morphologically similar but actually unrelated species Priapus humanus and Priapus equinus (in the state with retracted tentacles) with the non- erect penis of a human or a domestic horse , which was retained by the common German name.
literature
- Matthias Bergbauer, Bernd Humberg: What lives in the Mediterranean? , 1999, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, ISBN 3-440-07733-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Peter Eberhard: Attempt of a new draft of the animal history. With an appendix of some rare and as yet little described animals. Renger, 1768. §6. The human Priapus from the North Sea (Priapus humanus). P. 277.