Stats

Lifespan: Up to 80 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Cathemeral
Social: Solitary
Biome: Rocky intertidal zone
Range: Pacific North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Venom
Status: Common

About

A large sea anemone of the Pacific coast that owes its vivid green colour to symbiotic algae living inside its tissues. In shaded tide pools without enough light it bleaches to pale grey as the algae die off.

Life cycle

1.
planula larva
A free-swimming planula larva drifts with the current, coated in fine cilia, before settling onto a hard surface.
2.
juvenile polyp
A settled juvenile polyp anchors to rock and grows its first ring of short tentacles.
3.
adult
Fully grown, anchored in place with a full crown of stinging tentacles.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Actiniaria
Family: Actiniidae
Genus: Anthopleura
Species: Anthopleura xanthogrammica