Stichodactyla gigantea
©Rituraj Sharma: Stichodactyla gigantea with fish Amphiprion percula at Loomis Reef, Lizard Island lagoon.
©Rituraj Sharma: Column of Stichodactyla gigantea at Loomis Reef, Lizard Island lagoon. Note the non-adhesive verruccae (warts).
©Keesha Millar: Stichodactyla gigantea at Loomis Reef, Lizard Island, in Sep 2021. This anemone has been in the same area since 2015. The fish are Amphiprion percula.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Hexacorallia
Order
Actiniaria
Family
Stichodactylidae
Genus
Stichodactyla
Species
Stichodactyla gigantea
Colours
Distinguishing features
A large anemone with a deeply folded oral disc densely covered with tentacles up to about 3 cm long that taper to a blunt point. In the Lizard Island area, tentacles are either bright blue with brown bases or completely brown.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: Uncommon
Web resources
Danger
- mild discomfort - From experience at Lizard Island, contact with the blue form of this anemone is painless, but uncomfortable swelling and lesions develop after several hours and last for several days.
References
References that assist with identification
- Fautin, D.G. and G.R. Allen (1992). Field guide to anemonefishes and their host sea anemones Western Australian Museum, Perth, WA.
Other references
- Elliott, J.K. and R.N. Mariscal (1996). Ontogenetic and interspecific variation in the protection of anemonefishes from sea anemones. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 208: 52-72. LIRS catalog number 1662.
- Elliott, J.K., J.M. Elliott and R.N. Mariscal (1995). Host selection, location, and association behaviours of anemonefishes in field settlement experiments, Marine Biology, 122: 377-389. LIRS catalog number 700.
- View all references