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| Painted
Anemone |
(Urticina
crassicornis) |
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Description:
Body is stocky with a hundred or so tentacles on top. Has many
color variations from entirely tan, olive or bright red to striped
with green and red. Under water it resembles a big flower. Out
of the water resembles a deflated elongated sac. |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton, small animals and fish when
they come into contact. Mussels and other small animals may
be washed into the tentacle's reach. |
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| Reproduction:
Can have sexual reproduction with individuals being male or
female and release egg or sperm, or divides to form clone of
itself (asexual reproduction). |
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| Fun
Facts: Unable to sting through a persons skin. May
live to 60 years. |
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| Aggregating
Anemone |
(Anthopleura
elegantissima) |
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Description:
Common on rocks and sandy areas. Olive green body, when tentacles
extended they are pink-tipped. May divide by fission (cloning)
to form large colonies of genetically identical individuals. |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton, small animals and fish when
they come into contact. Feeds on crustaceans and other small
organisms. |
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| Reproduction:
Can have sexual reproduction with individuals being male or
female and release egg or sperm, or divides to form clone of
itself (asexual reproduction). |
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| Fun
Facts: Competing colonies attack each other, forming
a "no-mans-land" between them. |
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| Brooding
Anemone |
(Epiactis
prolifera) |
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Description:
Small. Color usually green, found growing on eelgrass or algae.
About 100 short taped tentacles. Usual local habitat is quiet
sandy beaches in eelgrass beds. |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton, and other tiny creatures when
they come into contact. |
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| Reproduction:
Can have sexual reproduction with individuals being male or
female and release egg or sperm or divides to form clone of
itself (asexual reproduction). |
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| Fun
Facts: Tiny anemones growing alongside adults settled
there as larvae, and are protected by the parent's tentacles
until they mature and move off on their own. |
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| Moonglow
Anemone |
(Anthopleura
artemisia) |
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Description:
Body color varies from gray, to brown, to olive green. Tentacles
tapering, pink, orange, green or blue in color banded by white.
Body up to 2 inches diameter, though usually covered by sand
and bits of shell. Found along protected rocky or cobble beaches
in sand. Attaches to rock or shell buried in the sand. |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton, small animals and fish when
they come into contact. Mussels and other small animals may
be washed into the tentacle's reach. |
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| Reproduction:
Can have sexual reproduction with individuals being male
or female and release egg or sperm, or divides to form clone
of itself (asexual reproduction). |
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| Fun
Facts: This species common name refers to the luminous
quality exhibited by the tentacles. Also known as the Burrowing Anemone.. |
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| Plumed
Anemone |
(Metridium
giganteum) |
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Description:
Tall, white to tan cylindrical body with numerous fine tentacles.
Large individuals may grow to two feet in length. Found subtidally
on rocks and pilings. Most easily seen locally on the pilings
of the Edmonds Fishing Pier. |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton and small animals when they
come into contact. |
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| Reproduction:
Can have sexual reproduction with individuals being male
or female and release egg or sperm or divides to form clone
of itself (asexual reproduction). |
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| Fun
Facts: Very long lived. Attacked and eaten by
the Shaggy Mouse Nudibranch. |
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| Lion's
Mane Jelly |
(Cyanea
capillata) |
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Description:
Muscular bell is transparent with long frilly tentacles (manubrium)
beneath it. Eight groups of tentacles hang from the margin and
can be up to 6 feet long below the bell. Internal organs are
vary in color (red, purple to yellow). |
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| Food:
Within each tentacle are stinging harpoon-like cells (nematocysts)
that fire - paralyzing plankton, small fish when they come into
contact. |
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| Reproduction:
Alternates sexual and asexual reproduction. Male release sperm
and fertilize eggs in female stomach. Once fertilized, eggs
settle-out on bottom to form a 6-7 mm polyps. After a time will
develop into a free swimming medusae and grow to be a large
jellyfish. |
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| Fun
Facts: World’s largest jellyfish! In the Arctic
specimens reach 8 feet in diameter, local ones may exceed 36
inches. Often seen washed up on the beach or in calm bays in
late summer. Lion’s Mane stinging cells (nematocysts)
are very potent and will cause a severe skin reaction. Jellyfish
can sting people even after it is dead. Jellyfish stinging cells
are sticky, they can stick to wood, buckets or shoes and deliver
a nasty sting when touched. |
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| Moon
Jelly |
(Aurelia
aurita) |
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Description:
Common large clear jellyfish. Bell is firm and flattened. Can
be 6 inches or more across. Four semicircular gonads (white
or yellow) form a cloverleaf pattern near the center of the
transparent bell. Has numerous tiny tentacles that fringe along
the bell margin. |
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| Food:
Feeds on plankton. |
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| Reproduction:
Alternates sexual and asexual reproduction. Male release sperm
and fertilize eggs in female stomach. Once fertilized settle
out on substrate to form a 6-7 mm polyps. After a time will
develop into a free swimming medusae and grow to be a large
jellyfish. |
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| Fun
Facts:
Moon Jelly has stinging cells (nematocysts) and mucus to catch
food. Moon Jelly has less potent stinging cells and not all
people feel a sting. Typically lives about one year. |
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| Sea
Pen |
(Ptilosarcus
gurneyi) |
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Description:
Body when extended resembles a large orange feather with a swollen
quill. Each individual is actually a colony of smaller animals.
Found in shallow subtidal to 330 feet in depth. |
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| Food:
Each plume is comprised of paired branches, each with numerous
feeding polyps. The fleshy "quill" pumps water throughout
the colony. |
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| Reproduction:
Reproduction either by sexual or asexual means. The animals
free-spawn and produce planktonic larvae that develop in the
water column. |
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| Fun
Facts: This species of sea pen is bio-luminescent
in the dark when disturbed. |
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| Copyright
© 2008-2009 City of Edmonds, Washington - All Rights Reserved
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