Tube Anemone (Ceriantharia)
The Tube Anemone is native to California Coast. They have also been referred to as Cerianthids. Typically these sea creatures live solitary lives. They bury themselves in soft sediment on the ocean floor.
They resemble a beautiful flower on a thick stem. The tube is tough leathery structure that is made of a fibrous material, which is made of secreted mucus and threads of nematocyst. They have two feet at the bottom of the tube that they bury into the sand. The Anemone can withdraw into the tube if threatened. The tube is typically fixed into place but the Anemone can leave the tube and move to another location where it will produce another tube. The have a crown of tentacles with row of tentacles encircling it. The outer row of tentacles are larger, taper to a point and extend outward. These tentacle is the anemones primary method for capturing food. The inner row of tentacles are held more erect and used to manipulate its food and ingestion. If a tentacle is taken off by a predator, it will regenerate a replacement tentacle. The coloration on the sea creatures is highly variable and can range from tan, pink, purple or even have shades of fluorescent green. The Tentacles are capable of absorbing ultraviolet light and shining it back as visible light.
The Tube Anemone survives on small invertebrates, crustaceans and plankton. They capture the prey by paralyzing with its tentacles. The prey is then passed into its mouth by the tentacles.
Information courtesy of wikipedia.org, waza.org
Photo courtesy of vdmdiveclub.org