Strawberry Corallimorpharian

ANIMAL:
Strawberry Corallimorpharian Corynactis californica

Type of Animal:
Corallimorph

Habitat:
Attached to live rock, shaded vertical rocks, rocks in areas w/ current, tide/intertidal pools, under canopies of giant kelp/southern sea palm, strong current rocky shores under rock ledges, strong current concrete wharf pilings, plastic foam floats w/ strong currents, low intertidal zone rocky shores w/ current, ocean rocks, coral heads, bay bottoms, river bottoms, found at depths of over 300 ft

Location(s):
E Pacific from British Columbia to Mexico

Appearance:
Bright red to dark red to pinkish-red w/ clear to white tentacles & fringed white or clear tentacle tips, have strawberry look to them, some animals come in purple/brown/orange/pink/white/pale blue/lavender/buff colors

Food/Diet:
Planktonic crustaceans, larvae, copepods, zooplankton, small fish, shrimp, mussels, tubifex worms

Status in Wild:
Stable

Lifestyle:
Huge colonies closely packed together as wide as 66 ft

Additional Info:

Called:
Male
Female
Young: Planula
Group: Colony
 
Diameter:
1 in

Gestation:
Less than 1 hour (asexual)
2-3 days (sexual) 

Life Span:
60-100 years

Height:
1 in

Length:
1 in

Main predators are sea stars, grey sea slugs, tompot blennies, snails, & nudibranchs.
 
These animals can reproduce sexually & asexually. When reproducing sexually, they produce egg strings/testicular cysts synchronously. More often, they reproduce asexually w/ method called longitudinal division in which 1 animal creates many copies of itself. These copies can cover more than a square mile. Many colonies are copies of 1 parent individual. Can also asexually reproduce by fission & budding.
 
These animals compete w/ other corallimorphs, sea anemones, & corals for space, attacking/killing them w/ toxins passed through prolonged contact.
 
Sexual reproduction in this species usually occurs from late November to mid-December.
 
Egg production occurs from August-November.
 
Besides using string-like extensions to kill competing species, they’re also used for killing larger prey & in defense.
 
Southern sea palms assist these animals in directing food particles to polyps.

Fun Fact(s):
Due to asexual reproduction, they can live indefinitely.
 
Also called Strawberry Anemones, Club-Tipped Anemones, California Club-Rays, & California Sea Anemones.
 
These animals not true anemones-unlike true anemones, tentacles end in knobs & are not fully retractile.
 
Besides being similar to true anemones, they’re also similar to corals but lack hard coral skeletons.

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