Giant Green Anemone
The giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) is a large, green anemone of tide pools on the Pacific coast of North America, up to about 30 centimeters across. Its green color comes from algae living in its tissues.
The giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) is a large, green anemone of tide pools on the Pacific coast of North America, up to about 30 centimeters across. Its green color comes from algae living in its tissues.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Giant Green Anemone in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Cnidaria+Ctenophora lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Green From Algae
Algae, called zoochlorellae, live inside its cells and feed it with sugars made by photosynthesis. Anemones in deep shade, with fewer algae, are pale. The anemone also traps mussels, crabs and fish that it catches with stinging tentacles.
A Sticky Tentacle Crown
Sticky tentacles hold prey to the mouth, and sand and shell fragments stick to the column. At low tide it closes up and retains water. See Beadlet Anemone.
Tide Pool Predator
Anemones are food for sea stars and sea slugs. See Starlet Sea Anemone.
Giant Green Anemone at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Anthopleura xanthogrammica |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Cnidaria |
| Class | Anthozoa |
| Order | Actiniaria |
| Family | Actiniidae |
| Field Guide group | Cnidaria + Ctenophora (Radiata & Jellies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Solitary emerald-green rocky-intertidal polyp up to 30 cm wide whose vibrant color comes from both its own pigment and symbiotic photosynthetic microalgae (zoochlorellae and zooxanthellae) living in its tissues. |
| Class | Anthozoa |
| Partner | Symbiotic algae |
See Also
- Beadlet Anemone — an Atlantic anemone
- Starlet Sea Anemone — a model anemone