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Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone

The giant Caribbean sea anemone is surprisingly territorial! If another anemone is too close, it will attack using its stinging cells until the intruder backs off and gives it back its space.

 

The giant Caribbean sea anemone is a striking species found throughout the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic in the Caribbean and around Florida. True to its name, it is one of the largest anemones in the region, growing about 15 centimeters (6 inches) tall and 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide. Its body can appear white, pink, green, red, blue, or brown. Its tentacles — typically tipped with vibrant colors like scarlet, blue, or pink — contain specialized stinging cells called nematocysts, which help the anemone capture prey. With these tentacles extended, the anemone paralyzes and feeds on prey such as fish, shrimp, mussels, or even other sea anemones. 

Although they do not form the close symbiotic relationships with clownfish seen in some Indo-Pacific species, giant Caribbean sea anemones still offer shelter for other animals such as small crustaceans and fish. One species, Pederson’s cleaner shrimp, makes its home amongst the anemone, gaining protection from its stinging tentacles while attracting reef fish to the anemone as a cleaning station.

 

 

Rising ocean temperatures can pose a risk to sea anemones as it threatens their symbiotic algae, which provide essential nutrients and color — much like coral bleaching. 

 

 

As climate change leads to rising ocean temperatures and changing conditions, this can increase the stress and possible mortality of anemones, as well as corals and sponges that they live beside. Oceana campaigns to tackle climate change by stopping the expansion of offshore drilling — a major contributor to the crisis. 

 

 

  • Animal Diversity Web 
  • Crawford, J.A. (1992). Acclimation of the Shrimp, Periclimenes Anthophilus, to the Giant Sea Anemone, Condylactis Gigantea. Bulletin of Marine Science 50(2), 331-341.  
  • Titus, B.M., Bennett-Smith, M.F., Chiodo, T., & Rodríguez, E. (2025).  The clownfish-hosting sea anemones (Anthozoa: Actiniaria): updated nomenclature, biogeography, and practical field guide. Zootaxa 5506(1), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5506.1.1 
  • Titus, B.M. et al. (2019). Phylogenetic relationships among the clownfish-hosting sea anemones. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106526 
  • Sheridan, N.E., Fautin, D.G., & Garrett, M.J. (2015). Gametogenesis and reproductive periodicity of the “biologically vulnerable” giant Caribbean sea anemone, Condylactis gigantea, in Florida. Invertebrate Biology 134(2), 116-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/ivb.12084 
  • Venn, A.A., Loram, J.E., Trapido-Rosenthal, H.G., Joyce, D.A., & Douglas, A.E. (2008). Importance of time and place: patterns in abundance of Symbiodinium clades A and B in the tropical sea anemone Condylactis gigantea. Biol. Bull. 215(3), 243-252. doi: 10.2307/25470708. 

 

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