Radianthus magnifica
species of sea anemone
Radianthus magnifica, also known as magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Stichodactylidae that is native to the Indo-Pacific.
Description
The magnificent sea anemone is characterized by a flared oral disc, which reaches between 20 and 50cm in diameter, but in some specimens, this can reach 1m. The oral disc, the base of the tentacles, and the oral orifice have the same color, going from light beige to white.
The numerous tentacles exceed 8 cm long. The sea anemone, being a member of the Hexacorallia, usually carries tentacles in multiples of six that are positioned in concentric circles. Their tips are fingered and often lighter in coloration than the tentacle body and are sometimes vividly colored.
Its specific scientific name, magnifica, and its vernacular name come from the bright color of the column, which is the visible outer structure when the animal retracts, and these range from electric blue to green, red, pink, purple, or brown.
Distribution and habitat
The magnificent sea anemone is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific area, from the eastern coasts of Africa, the Red Sea included, to Polynesia and from southern Japan to Australia and New-Caledonia
This anemone likes hard substrates, being well exposed to light, and currents from the surface to 20m deep, though it has been observed down to 40m deep.
Biology
The magnificent sea anemone has two feeding methods. The first one is through the photosynthesis of its symbiotic zooxanthellae, living in its tissues.
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This entry incorporates text from “Radianthus magnifica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.