Marine life  /  Anemones & zoanthids
12 of 1316 species
Group

Anemones & zoanthids

Anemones, tube anemones, corallimorphs and zoanthids. Hosts as often as hazards, and several of them are worth searching for what is living in them.

Species
12
Depth
0–40 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
Night only
None
Can hurt a diver
8
Destinations
9

A Haddon's carpet anemone has a household living in it - anemonefish, porcelain crabs and commensal shrimps - and a tube anemone usually has a crab or a shrimp on the column. Searching an anemone is a more reliable way to add species than searching the sand around it.

Two sting hard enough to matter. The hell's fire anemone raises welts that last, and it is on rubble at a depth where a hand is often put down. Zoanthids in the genus Palythoa carry palytoxin, which is a problem for people who keep them in aquariums rather than for divers who leave them alone.

12 species

Photographed first, then commonest
Bubble-tip anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor
Bubble-tip anemone
Entacmaea quadricolor
Coral heads, rubble and reef slopes · 2–25 m
1 star of 5, found on most divesin Lembeh Strait Caution
Haddon's carpet anemone, Stichodactyla haddoni
Haddon's carpet anemone
Stichodactyla haddoni
Sand and seagrass · 1–30 m
1 star of 5, found on most divesin Lembeh Strait Caution
Magnificent sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica
Magnificent sea anemone
Heteractis magnifica
Reef slopes and coral heads · 3–30 m
1 star of 5, found on most divesin Bali Caution

The other 9, written up but not yet photographed

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 12 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 12.

Lembeh Strait 8 Anilao 6 Bali 6 Dauin & Dumaguete 4 Florida 4 Bahamas 4 Cayman Islands 4 Ambon 3 Papua New Guinea 3

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Goatfish 8 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Pufferfish & boxfish 23 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles 11 Marine mammals & birds 10 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Hermit crabs 10 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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