Sea Anemones of New Zealand

Perhaps the most common species of sea anemone found around New Zealand, seen as a distinctive red blob on rocks at low tide .
Habitat
It is found relatively high on the seashore, in rock pools, and various cracks and shaded surfaces such as under rock overhangs in the intertidal zone.

Pedal disc

Column
Smooth, deep brown/red column, seen as a red hemispherical blob of jelly at low tide. 30 to 40mm high. May also be a deep black/green colour. A circle of 24 light blue spherules (acrorhagi) around the inner edge of the column, but not normally visible.

Oral disc
Flat deep brown/red disc . 30 to 40mm diameter.

Tentacles
Up to 144 bright red tentacles, about 15mm long.

Distribution
Throughout NZ. less ↑

Probably just a synonym of Oulactis muscosa (Drayton in Dana, 1846)
Synonyms: Tealidium cinctum Stuckey, 1909 as Metridium muscosum


Habitat
Adherent in cleft of rock, making the animal difficult to remove.

Column
The upper part is brownish in colour, the lower part dirty-white. The upper part is covered with verrucæ in vertical rows; small shells, etc, are attached to these verrucæ. The lower part, which is imbedded in a cleft of the rock, is without the verrucæ, and is channelled by fine furrows. The verrucæ act as suckers, by which the animal covers itself with bits of shell and other débris. In full expansion the column bulges outwards, forming a circular swelling just under the bases of the tentacles. Height, 40 mm, diameter, 30mm.

Oral disc
The colour is pale brown, with a ring of green round the mouth, and a broken ring of yellow round the green.

Tentacles
48 mauve-pink tentacles in four cycles about 16mm long. There are white transverse markings on the inner sides.

Distribution
Island Bay.

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Art. XXXVI. - A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
By F.G.A.Stuckey, M.A., Wellington.
Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p389


Genus Tealidium (Hertwig).

Paractidœ having the tentacles placed in several rows of uniform size in the same row, and having the body-wall covered with fine papillæ. All mesenteries perfect and gonophoric except the directives. (Hertwig's definition modified.)

This genus was erected by Hertwig for the reception of a form found in the “Challenger” material, a form which agreed with Paractis except in the warty character of the body-wall. In Hertwig's species (Tealidium cingulatum) the wall bulges outwards, forming a girdle below the tentacles. This he attributes to the great development of the sphincter. In the species described below the same thing is seen, though I have no direct evidence that it arises from the cause ascribed by Hertwig. Probably this feature may come to be regarded as of generic value.

1. Tealidium cinctum (sp. nov.).

Pedal-disc.—Adherent in cleft of rock, making the animal difficult to remove. The mesoglœa is fibrous, and contains numerous lacunæ.

Column.—The upper part is brownish in colour, the lower part dirty-white. The upper part is covered with verrucæ in vertical rows; small shells, &c., are attached to these verrucæ. The lower part, which is imbedded in a cleft of the rock, is without the verrucæ, and is channelled by fine furrows. The verrucæ act as suckers, by which the animal covers itself with bits of shell and other débris. In full expansion the column bulges outwards, forming a circular swelling just under the bases of the tentacles. The ectoderm is somewhat irregular, and there appear here and there spaces between the cells. The nerve-layer is feebly developed. The mesoglœa is well developed, and contains small lacunæ. It runs into the ectoderm in the form of conical papillæ.

Tentacles.—These are 48 in number, apparently in four cycles. Length, about 16 mm. They are pellucid, with a mauve-pink shade. There are white transverse markings on the inner sides. The ectoderm is of the same irregular character as that of the column, but the intercellular spaces are smaller. The nervous layer is well developed, being several cells deep. There is a fair development of the ectodermal muscles, but the endodermal musculature is weak. The lumen of each tentacle is filled with what appears to be hypertrophied endoderm.

Oral Disc.—The colour is pale brown, with a ring of green round the mouth, and a broken ring of yellow round the green. The histological features resemble those of the tentacles.

Sphincter Muscle.—This is mesoglœal and diffuse, extending through the whole wall of the column. There is, however, a decided thickening under the edge of the disc, and this probably constitutes the true sphincter. Hertwig describes a similar sphincter in Antholoba reticulata.

Mesenteries.—There are 24 pairs, 2 pairs being directives. All reach the stomodæum, and are about equal in development. All are gonophoric except the directives. I have made this a generic feature, since Tealidium cingulatum (Hertwig), the only other known species, has all its mesenteries perfect and gonophoric (? directives). The musculature is well developed. (Plate XXIV, fig. 2.)

Gonads.—Placed much as in Paractis ferax, and form large masses between the mesenteries.

Dimensions.—Height, 40 mm.; diameter, 30 mm.

Distribution.—Of the genus—Antarctic Ocean (Delage and Herouard); also New Zealand. Of the species—Island Bay. less ↑

Common large anemone.
Habitat
Bottom of tidal pool in sand.

Pedal disc
Basal disc wider than column, forming a flange around the base.

Column
Usually fawn or cream, sometimes dull green or light orange. Wider at top, covered with white to grey or green verrucae bumps which adhere to grit and shell fragments. At the base 70 to 90mm diameter, and up to 100mm high but usually buried in sand so only the top is showing.

Warts appear randomly spaced.

Oral disc
About 100mm diameter - wider than column, so creased into a number of lobes. Usually a single colour but might fade towards the outside. May be red, brown, pink, yellow-green, or purple-blue.
At the top margin of the column the verrucae take on a finely branched form which gives the appearance of a white ruff between the tentacles around the outside of the disc (usually white but may vary) . The fronds may have a spherule at their tip.

Tentacles
Short, about 10mm, up to 190 in 4 whorls. May be the same colour as the oral disc, or a contrasting colour or there maybe two colours of tentacles.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

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Edited version of Records of the Canterbury Museum, Vol 6, No 1, p117-9, Nov 1951
Article: The Actiniaria of New Zealand - a check-list of recorded and new species, a review of the literature, and a key to the commoner forms Part 1
By G. Parry. :

Genus ISOCRADACTIS (Carlgren, 1924) Actiniidae with well-developed pedal disc. Column cup-like with adhesive verrucae arranged in longitudinal rows, and increasing enormously in number a short distance below the tentacles. Several verrucae, in bunches projecting from a common stalk, here form in each intermesenterial compartment, 'frond'-like formations; these are surmounted by a spherule.

Tentacles numerous, short, conical, hexamerously arranged, the inner a little longer than the outer. Oral disc very wide, folded.

Isocradactis magna (Stuckey, 1909) The basal disc is very well-developed, being a little wider than the column, and forming a flange round the base; it is of thin epithelium and closely applied to the substratum, making it very difficult to remove intact. The column is pillar-shaped, widening towards the distal end. It is covered with numerous hemispherical verrucae, which function as suckers, attaching to themselves all manner of small stones, shells, pieces of weed, etc., so that in contraction, the animal looks like a small pile of stones. These verrucae are arranged in longitudinal rows, but are often so numerous, especially in the upper part of the column, that they appear to have no regular pattern. Towards the basal end, the warts become larger, fewer, and more regularly placed; towards the oral disc they become fused, and are small and closely packed. At the margin they form compound structures, the ' fronds '. Each frond is rather like a tree with branches on one side only, the oral face being straight, the outer branching. Each frond is made up of 30-40 warts if it lies above an exocoel; of 130-140 if it lies above an endocoel. There is no marked difference between these warts and those of the column. They are usually surmounted, at the tip, by a spherule, often white, sometimes coloured. The effect of these fronds is to form a lacy white ruff round the tentacles—it is usually white, but may be variable (see below).

The tentacles are numerous, short, and rather blunt. They are arranged in 4 cycles, but may exceed this, up to 192 tentacles (Carlgren). Their arrangement is hexamerous, and there is little difference in size between the different cycles. They are perforated at their tips, like the verrucae, both compound and simple, and it seems a common reaction, when the animal is stimulated, for contraction to be accompanied by the discharge of fine streams of water from these perforations.

The disc is considerably broader than the column, so that its edge is thrown into deep folds. In expanded specimens the disc is flat, or more often, rather concave, with the tentacles held over it. There is a peristome very slightly above the level of the disc, the two siphonoglyphs being marked by differently coloured tubercles. The sides of the actinopharynx are grooved.

The column is generally light grey, or buff, or occasionally a pale orange, or a dull green. The verrucae are mostly white, but again may be grey, cream, or green. Stuckey reports the column varying from brownish yellow, pinkish yellow, yellowish green, and pale green. I do not think that the range is quite so great, though the North Island specimens may be more brightly coloured. The disc is much more variable. In expansion, the colour appears concentrated at the centre, round the peristome, where it has a velvety texture. The colour fades towards the tentacles, so that further out, the mesenterial insertions show as darker lines, the exo- and endocoels as more translucent areas. Between the bases of the tentacles, the epithelium is almost colourless. There is usually only one colour in this, in contrast to O. muscosa, which has a radiate pattern of red, brown and white. The colour in O. magna may be almost anything, and the most astonishing colours are seen—brown, olive green, yellow green, dark red, cerise, yellow brown, purplish blue—these are only a few of the colours observed. The actinopharynx is white or cream, with a cream tubercle above each siphonoglyph. The tentacles may be the same in colour as the disc; or they may be a contrasting colour; or they may be in two colours. For example, one specimen with a claret coloured disc has olive-green tentacles; another has a cerise disc, inner tentacles orange-brown, the outer ones darker brown.

Size : Height of column 10 cm. or more, width of lower column 7-9 cm., width of disc greater than 10 cm., length of tentacles 1 cm., length of fronds 1 cm.

Stuckey records this animal as being commensal with the common shore crab, Halicarcinus planatus, but I think this must be a mistaken observation. Certainly the two inhabit the same region of the shore—low water, and generally where rocks and sand are mixed—but since I have very commonly found broken pieces of the carapace and legs of this species of crab within the coelenteron of the anemone, it does not seem that the crab is in any way immune to the predatory habits of the anemone. In view of the fact that the actinian is as big and as powerful as the British Tealia felina, which is commonly known to eat and digest quite large fish, it can be reasonably assumed that O. magna can capture Halicarcinus, Collected from Plimmerton (Stuckey), Cape Maria van Diemen (Carlgren), Tauranga; Sumner, Taylor's Mistake, and Menzies Bay, all in Bank's Peninsula (author). less ↑

A large common anemone, also known as the "sand anemone". Its colours often serve to camouflage it, but close up it can be seen as a rainbow of colours. It feeds on mussels that have been dislodged from their rocks by waves.
Habitat
Rocky shore often nestles in crevices.

Column
Appears to be short and squat, but its column is usually hidden in a crevice, 45mm high. Column brown, orange or greenish brown with lines of white or cream verrucae adhesive pads running up the column, more numerous towards the top. The column is often hidden by the fragments of shell and grit sticking to the verrucae.

Oral disc
The oral disc colour is often primarily red or brown with a complex, 12 way symmetrical, radiating pattern of rings and zig-zags of colour, 40mm diameter. In the South Island it is tends to be larger, often with a red oral disc.

Tentacles
Tentacles towards the centre are brown with mottled white spots, tentacles on the outer edges are mauve/pink. The mottled spots give it a banded appearance. 96 short, 10-15mm long, tentacles in 4 whorls - 12+12+24+48.
Otago card says: tentacles inner green with pale patches, outer deep gray with pink patches, or almost unbarred
24 bright pink or orange spherules encircle the crown.

Distribution
Found throughout NZ.

Reproduction
Can split in half or produce off-spring sexually.

Australian descriptions tend to be a bit different, no mention of pink outer tentacles. Tentacles described as grouped into three rows,transparent to pale brown or pale greenish to greyish-white, marked with horizontal black bands.
Otago card says: "Distinctive features: Tentacles 1/2 - 1/3 width of oral disc. Marginal spherules (pink or orange). Verrucae (suckers on column) in longitudinal rows."

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Edited version of Records of the Canterbury Museum, Vol 6, No 1, p102-3, Nov 1951
Article: The Actiniaria of New Zealand - a check-list of recorded and new species, a review of the literature, and a key to the commoner forms Part 1
By G. Parry. :

Genus OULACTIS Milne-Edwards and Haime,, 1851. Actiniidae with well-developed pedal disc. Column smooth in its lowest part, otherwise provided with longitudinal rows of verrucae which, below the margin are small and very close set on small lobes of the column, forming frond-like formations. Fosse distinct. Marginal spherules present.
Tentacles rather short, hexamerously arranged.

Oulactis muscosa (Drayton, 1846)
The base is firmly adherent in rock crevices, so that it is difficult to remove the animal without damage. Column is straight, covered with numerous verrucae in longitudinal rows. These verrucae become more numerous towards the upper part of the column, where the last few of each row (about 12) are carried on a ridge. Their colour is white or cream, the column between them being brown, orange, or a green-brown. There is a circle of bright pink or orange marginal spherules, usually 24.

The tentacles are in 4 cycles, 12, 12, 24, 48. The inner two cycles are mottled brown, the outer a rosy, transparent pink. They all bear on their oral faces a line of brown, with lenticular white patches running across the tentacles, giving it the appearance of being barred with white. The outer sides of the inner, brown, tentacles have a similar brown streak, flanked by white. The tentacles are all rather short and arranged near the outer edge of the disc. They do not differ in size, all being about half or one-third width of the disc.

When the disc is expanded it is held flat, though it may be saucer-shaped, with the inner cycle of tentacles held over it. Its colour is very variable, and may be all one colour, or more commonly, has a complex radiating pattern. Usually its ground colour is within the range of red to brown. There is a slight peristome, usually darker in colour, with white tubercles at the siphonoglyphs. The ground colour of the disc is generally broken up by radial lines and rings of colour. First there is a series of radial brown markings along the mesenterial insertions, from the peristome to the bases of the tentacles. Just beyond the peristome there is a zig-zag ring of darker colour. At the bases of the tentacles the colour usually changes to brown, broken by a V-shaped patch of white at the base of the inner cycle of 12 tentacles. There are similar patches at the bases of the second cycle of 12, but further out, and these patches are all linked with white markings to form a complex ring of white round the tentacles. The outer cycles of tentacles have a ring of white running round the base of each tentacle. The marginal spherules are armed with atrichs; the tentacles with spirocysts, basitrichs and microbasic p-mastigophors.

Size of a large specimen is height, 4.5 cm.; width of disc, 4 cm.; length of tentacles, 1-1.5 cm.

Distributed throughout New Zealand. Rocky shores and reefs, in rock crevices or pools just above low tide level. less ↑

Common
Habitat
Favours the gravelly cracks between large boulders, also found in pools, under rocks, or buried in sand.

Pedal disc
Well developed and broader than the column. May have patches of yellow or green around basal flange.

Column
Smooth, 40mm high, 35mm diameter. May have ridges with yellow spots running up the column. Commonly green, but may vary from tan or pale yellow to olive or emerald green.

Oral disc
Translucent green, mouth pink or pinkish green (or Morton says lighter coloured than tentacles and implies it is the same hue, brown or green, as them. Mouth pinkish brown).

Tentacles
Numerous, up to 30mm long, vary from brown to green.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ. less ↑

Habitat

Column

Oral disc

Tentacles

Distribution

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Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p385
Art. XXXVI.—A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
(by F. G. A. Stuckey)

Thoe albens (sp. nov.).

This species in expansion is opaque-white, but is so pulpy that in contraction it looks like a small shapeless mass of transparent jelly. This makes it difficult to kill well, and extremely difficult to make good histological preparations of the animal.

Pedal-disc.—Adherent to Lessonia, below low-water mark. The ectoderm and endoderm are thicker than the mesoglœa. The latter shows the fibrous structure characteristic of most actinians. It also contains a number of lacunæ. The nerve-layer of the ectoderm is very well developed. The disc spreads out a little beyond the column, the outspread portion being marked with golden-yellow radial lines.

Column.—Similar in structure to the pedal-disc, but thinner. It has the appearance of having a mesoglœal circular muscle throughout its whole height. It is smooth, with no suckers or verrucæ. Neither are there any visible cinclides except when the acontia are ejected. The colour is white.

Sphincter Muscle.—There is a spindle-shaped thickening of the mesogloea in the upper part of the column, causing a slight bulging of the wall. In the sphincter the muscle spaces are very close together, but otherwise this muscle is of the usual sagartian type.

Tentacles.—There are 96, in four cycles, 12 + 12 + 24 + 48 = 96. In colour they are opaque-white, like the column; in shape, conical and tapering. The length is rather more than half the diameter of the disc. At the base of each tentacle is an incomplete ring of yellow pigment, the open part directed inwards and the outer circumferences of the rings close together, so as to make an almost continuous ring of yellow round the top of the column under the tentacles (fig. 7). Nematocysts are numerous in the tentacles. The ectoderm and endoderm are relatively thick, the mesoglœa being reduced to a mere streak. The muscle-bearing processes on both sides are few in number. The nerve-layer is compact, and appears almost as a line in cross-sections. There are numerous large irregular spaces in the ectoderm.

Oral Disc.—Colour white, as in the tentacles and column. Mouth is set on a peristome. The stomodæum is white, and there are 2 siphonoglyphs.

Mesenteries. — Owing to the difficulty of killing and fixing this species I was unable to determine accurately the number and arrangement of the mesenteries.

Acontia: — These are emitted reluctantly, some through the mouth, others from cinclides which are placed on the column just under the yellow line at the bases of the tentacles. The acontia are long, and contain very large numbers of nematocysts, together with many nerve-cells. The processes of the nerve-cells run between the closely packed nematocysts (fig. 8).

Habits.—This species lives in the chinks among the “roots” of Lessonia. It is impatient of light.

Dimensions.—In full expansion it is 12 mm. high and 10 mm. in diameter. The pedal-disc is rather wider than the column.

Distribution.— Of the species—Island Bay. less ↑

Common small anemone.
Habitat
Under wharf piles, in rock pools, on open surfaces of rocks and reefs.

Column
Smooth brown or orange column, with white or pale green stripes from top to bottom. Can emit white stinging threads from small holes on side of column. 10 to 20mm high.

Oral disc
Flat, orange (or green according to http://australianmuseum.net.au), slightly larger in diameter than column, 15 to 20mm diameter. Mouth white.

Tentacles
4 whorls of short pale tentacles.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

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Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 11, 1878, p308
Art. XXXII.—The Sea Anemones of New Zealand.
By Prof. Hutton.. :

Of the genus: All the tentacles simple. Column pierced with loop-holes.
Disc imperfectly retractile; column smooth, without suckers, perforated by a few large loop-holes.

Column cylindrical, broader than high; yellowish-orange, vertically striped with yellowish-green, each band having a central line of darker green. Disc circular; reddish orange or brick red, radially streaked with darker; margin not beaded; mouth elevated, round; throat ribbed. Tentacles in four indistinct rows round the disc, short, about half the diameter of the disc, conical with blunt points, and often much swollen at the base. Their colour is opaque white. Diameter, about 7 to 10mm.

Common in rock-pools near Dunedin. Sometimes the column is vertically streaked with red and white.

Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p370
Art. XXXV.—On Two Anemones found in the Neighbourhood of Wellington—Leiotealia thompsoni and Sagartia albocincta.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. :

Pedal-disc.—This only slightly exceeds the breadth of the column, and is about equal to the height. It is strongly adherent, and the animal can hardly be removed without damage.

Column.—The shape is cylindrical. The colour is deposited in alternating vertical stripes, pink and white, pellucid brown and white, brown and yellow, or green and yellow. The upper part often assumes an orange, the lower a greenish tinge. In full expansion the body-wall is semi-transparent. The wall is pierced by a number of irregularly arranged cinclides, which are easily made out in a fresh specimen. They have thickened margins.

Tentacles.—These are all opaque, white, and rather fine. They are regularly arranged in four whorls, 12 + 12 + 24 + 48. They can be wholly retracted, though the favourite position of the animal when not distended is one in which the tentacles are partially withdrawn, the tips forming a white central mass. In shape the tentacles are conical and pointed.

Oral Disc.—The disc is bright orange in colour, with radial markings. The mouth is set on a peristome.

Œsophagus.—The œsophagus is dull white, with brighter vertical lines.

Acontia are emitted through the mouth and through the cinclides already mentioned. Some specimens emit the acontia much more reluctantly than others.

Dimensions.—Height, 10–12 mm.; and diameter, 7–10 mm.

Habits and Locality.—This anemone is found on rocks, stones, and the roots of seaweed. It is very firmly attached, and can only be removed with difficulty. It opens freely in captivity. It is common in the neighbourhood of Wellington, and is also recorded from Lyttelton. Hutton's original specimens were found at Dunedin. less ↑

Habitat
Intertidal to 12m.

Column
Thin walled, no adhesive discs, light orange with dark brown stripes from top to bottom. Can emit white stinging threads from small lens-shaped holes on the white stripes on the middle third of column. 40mm high.

Oral disc
Often olive-brown but varies, 20mm diameter. Outside of the mouth is pink with red lines, and red inside.

Tentacles
4 whorls of numerous fine salmon pink to white tentacles.

Distribution
Endemic, North Island and Marlborough Sounds.

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Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p384
Art. XXXVI.—A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. :

Pedal-disc.—The ectoderm is thick, and presents no unusual feature. The mesoglœa is much “vacuolated,” and the endoderm is thin.

Column.—The colour is dirty-white and olive-brown in alternate longitudinal lines, or the whole may be dirty-white, or grey, or even pink. There is a circular muscle in the wall throughout its entire length carried on regular folds of the mesoglœa.

Tentacles.—These are very fine and threadlike. Their colour is salmon-pink, though in some specimens they are white. They are of different lengths in the different cycles. There are several cycles, but the tentacles are so numerous and crowded that it is impossible to make out how many cycles there are. Judging from cross-sections I should say there are four cycles. In structure the tentacles resemble those of the last species (S. nutrix), but there is a specially well-developed nervous layer.

Oral Disc.—Colour olive-brown generally, but there is considerable variation. The structure is identical with that of the tentacles, and closely resembling the same part of S. nutrix.

Stomodœum.—The colour is a rich pink, with darker-coloured red longitudinal lines. The inner edge of the mouth is also red. The stomodæum is freely everted, when the red lines, together with the edge of the mouth, form a rosette-like design on the disc. There are 2 siphonoglyphs.

Acontia.—These are extruded through lens-shaped cinclides, which are invisible except at the time of discharge. These cinclides appear to be on the white lines only, and to be limited to a zone encircling the middle third of the body..

Dimensions.—My largest specimens were 40 mm. high and 20 mm. in diameter, but I am told there are larger ones on the piles of the Queen's Wharf, Wellington.

Habits and Locality.—Professor H. B. Kirk has brought me specimens from Plimmerton. I myself have found the species in large numbers on the breastwork of the Thorndon Esplanade, Wellington Harbour, and on the piles of the baths. This anemone adheres so strongly that it is impossible to remove it without damage. It is attached also to shells of mussels, and this makes it possible to obtain good specimens. less ↑

Most anemones can move, but this one is very mobile crawling or drifting to new locations. Tends to be active at night, and rolled up into a ball during the day.
Habitat
Among seaweeds and sub tidal reefs.

Pedal disc
Well developed, orange with a wavy margin.

Column
Comes in many different colours from blue/grey to yellowish, browny orange, brown, mauve, dark purple/blue. Up to about 200mm long.

Oral disc
Flat, pale yellow up to 100mm diameter.

Tentacles
Numerous tentacles up to 25mm, arranged in 6 whorls. Pale yellow, fawn, or orange.

Distribution
Through out NZ.

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Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p374
Art. XXXVI.—A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A., Wellington :

Pedal-disc.—Lobed, wider than the column. Only slightly adherent, the animal being able to “crawl” about on it, and to become free and float away at will. The colour of the pedal-disc is yellowish-orange.

Column.—Cylindrical in form, and covered with large blisterlike vesicles, which in the contracted state of the animal lie in contact, but in expansion are separate. Their longitudinal arrangement is not evident, except when the animal is expanded. They appear to assist in the flotation of the animal. The colour of the column is dark velvety brown.

Tentacles.—Very numerous and crowded, in about six cycles. They are simple, and conical in shape. Their colour is pale yellow.

Oral Disc.—The disc is flat, with the mouth on a large mound-shaped peristome. The colour of the disc is light yellow, that of the peristome very dark brown or black. The mouth bears two bright-yellow tubercles.

Habits.—This anemone frequents quiet pools among the rocks, but is sometimes seen floating at the surface, oral disc downwards. Rather uncommon.

Dimensions.—Fully expanded the animal is 18 cm. in height and 10 cm. in diameter.

Distribution.—Of the genus—New Zealand. Of the species—Cook Strait. less ↑

Habitat

Column

Oral disc

Tentacles

Distribution

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Edited version of : Art. XXXII. - Contributions to the Cœlenterate Fauna of New Zealand

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1 January 1879
By Professor F. W. Hutton, of the Otago University



Diactis, gen. nov.

Column smooth, divided into two portions, of which the upper is retractile into the lower. Tentacles numerous, subulate, arranged in many rows.

This new genus belongs to the family Antheadæ. Actinia nivea, Lesson (Voy. Coquille, Zoology, chap. xiv., p. 81, pl. III., f. 8), from Peru, probably belongs to it.

D. crocata, sp. nov.

Column: Lower portion longer than broad, expanded at the base, contracted in the middle, pale yellowish brown with numerous white longitudinal streaks; upper portion shorter and narrower than the lower, yellowish orange, very faintly streaked with lighter, and getting brown towards the disc. Disc expanded, as broad as the lower portion of the column, circular, concave, yellow-orange. Tentacles numerous, half the diameter of the disc in length, and of the same colour. Mouth small, elongated, white.

Port Chalmers, a single specimen on Boltenia australis.

The body of this animal varies remarkably in form, and is constantly changing its shape. When normally expanded the column is about an inch long. The tentacles are not very sensitive, but can be retracted with the upper part of the column into the lower part. less ↑

A common anemone.
Habitat
Grows outwards or downwards from the substrate. Often associated with mussels in the shade on wharf piles, and sides of rocks near the low water mark. So seen for example in Wellington harbour, but not on the southern Cook strait coast where mussels are also absent.

Pedal disc
Firmly attached, wider than column (sometimes very much wider, seemingly stretched over the rocks). Can move from place to place.

Column
Smooth sided, with white and coloured stripes from top to bottom, with a distinct "neck" at the top. The usually orange stripes may alternatively be pink, yellow or transparent white. The neck is the same colour as the stripes. When the anemone is partially contracted the neck may no longer be visible, but the tentacles may still protrude. When contracted the column often has horizontal wrinkle lines. The neck is constricted in a collar at the top of the main column, then tends to flare out at the top. When fully extended the collar is less pronounced.
Can extrude white stinging "acontia" threads through "cinclides" in the column wall if disturbed. Up to 50mm diameter and 80mm tall when fully extended.

Oral disc
Edge ruffled into lobes, and the disc is often not visible due to the tentacles curled above it. The disc is a dark version of the stripes in colour, with a very bright, ridged, orange mouth and throat. The disc is up to 60mm diameter.

Tentacles
Numerous fine, 15 to 20mm long tentacles giving feathery appearance. The tentacles are described as 'the same colour as the column' by Parry, but as usually 'a deep, rich brown' by Cook, they seem to vary from almost white to dark brown. Additionally there may be 12 much larger 'catch' tentacles (up to 60mm long) on the inner whorl, these may appear darker when contracted, or transparent when stretch out.
Appears to be a filter feeder on plankton.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

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Edited version of Records of the Canterbury Museum, Vol 6, No 2, p138-8, Aug 1952
Article: The Actiniaria of New Zealand - a check-list of recorded and new species, a review of the literature, and a key to the commoner forms Part 2
By G. Parry. :

Genus DIADUMENE Stephenson, 1920
Diadumenidae with well-developed basal disc. Column smooth, divisible into scapus and capitulum which are separated from one another by a collar round the upper margin of the scapus. Scapus with cinclides. Margin of capitulum tentaculate. Sometimes the collar smooths away when the body is fully extended. No distinct sphincter. Tentacles long, numerous, more or less regularly arranged, not or imperfectly retractile. Some or all of the inner tentacles typically thicker than the other tentacles, and form catch-tentacles, containing, among other nematocysts, atrichs and holotrichs. In some individuals, however, these special tentacles may be absent. Outer tentacles sometimes with macrobasic amastigophors. Siphonoglyphs and directive mesenteries variable in number in connection with asexual reproduction. Six or a few more perfect mesenteries. Mesenteries more numerous above than below. Retractors diffuse, more or less restricted. Parietobasilar and basilar muscles weak. Perfect mesenteries and the stronger imperfect ones, fertile. Acontia well-developed, with basitrichs and microbasic p-mastigophors. Cnidom:—spirocysts, basitrichs, atrichs, holotrichs, microbasic p-mastigophors, and microbasic and macrobasic amastigophors.

Diadumene neozelanica Carlgren, 1924
The anatomy of this species has been described very fully by Carlgren, from the Mortensen collection, but there has been no account, to date, of the living animal, and its environment.

The base is very firmly adherent, and only detached with some difficulty. The epithelium of the base is very thin and easily torn. Generally it is a little wider than the column, but in some cases may be very much wider, the animal being stretched over the substratum, to such an extent that the animal seems unable to expand in the normal way. The base is very mobile, and the animals tend to move about aquaria by means of its muscular activity. The column is about as broad as high—sometimes more elongated when the animal is fully expanded—and is usually wider at the basal end. The scapus is striped longitudinally with white and orange, in most cases. Its epithelium is thin and delicate, even when contracted. It is smooth when the animal is fully expanded; very delicately wrinkled with transverse and longitudinal striations when contracted. The cinclides are numerous, and are arranged in rings from the region of the collar, where the scapus and capitulum meet, to the base. They are placed one above the other, always on the white stripes of the scapus. The collar between scapus and capitulum is prominent, although it is less so in fully expanded animals. The capitulum is trumpet shaped, expanding suddenly below the tentacles, to form an undulated margin. It has the same colour as the coloured stripes of the scapus—it may be orange, pink, yellow, or transparent white. It is paler towards the collar, deepening towards the margin. The skin is even more delicate than that of the scapus. During the daylight hours, the animal is usually only partly expanded, the capitulum being retracted into the scapus, with the tentacles just protruding. At night, or in a dim light, there is full expansion of both parts of the column so that the anemone may almost treble its size.
The tentacles are very fine and fairly long, and so numerous that they give the appearance of a fine feathery ruffle round the top of the capitulum. The edge of the disc is generally folded into 5-6 lobes. An inner ring of twelve catch-tentacles, immediately distinguishes this species from the genus Metridium. The tentacles of this inner ring are of the same colour as the others (though if they are contracted they look much darker)—that is, they are the same as the colour of the column. They are much stouter and longer than the other tentacles and carry a special armature of nematocysts. They may extend widely beyond the animal and have been observed to sweep slowly about in the water.
The disc is the same colour as the rest of the animal, though perhaps the colour may be a little more intense. It is not often visible, usually being covered, more or less, by the tentacles. The peristome is raised a little above the surrounding disc. The actinopharynx is longitudinally ridged, the ridges being very brilliant in colour and conspicuous. Size varies greatly, probably with age. Expansion alters the size and shape perhaps more in this species than in any other. For a fully expanded specimen (in a dim light)—width of base 5 cm., height of column 8 cm., width of crown 6 cm., length of outer fine tentacles 1.5-2 cm, length of catch-tentacles up to 6 cm.
Nothing is known of the reproduction of this species, other than that it has non-yolky eggs, and hence, presumably, direct development. The British species, D.cincta may reproduce by asexual fission, but this has never been observed in D. neozelanica. The evidence in its favour, however, is that it is a gregarious species, and that groups of individuals of varying size, and the same colour variety, are often found centred round one small area.
The anemone is found more or less commensal with the common mussel, Mytilus edulis. In mussel beds it is common along with tube worms (Pomatoceros sp.) and acorn barnacles. The reason for this commensalism seems merely that all these animals require the same ecological conditions. In all the places where I have found it, there is one common condition that there is an almost continual current of sea water, rushing back and forth with the tide. Normally, they are exposed only by the low water springs, and then usually for a short time. However, they are able to withstand considerable exposure, as I once found a group at Governor's Bay (Lyttelton Harbour), which were exposed to the mid-day summer sun for some hours, and became dry and hard to the touch. These seemed to survive quite well. In common with the other animals living in the same habitat, the anemone feeds microphagously from the plankton carried by the sea water. Although I have been unable to see ciliary currents on the disc and tentacles, I have been quite unable to feed this species macrophagously, but in natural conditions it will catch small planktonic crustaceans. Its gut never contains the shells of crabs etc., like other species of actinians. Collected from Heathcote Estuary (causeway at MacCormack's Bay and Monck's Bay); Governor's Bay, Lyttelton Harbour, on rocky shore; on piles at the end of a breakwater, Lyttelton Inner Harbour; on exposed reefs on the eastern side of Bank's Peninsula. Further north, I have found it at Tauranga, and on wharf piles at Devonport, Auckland Harbour. Garlgren reports it from Slipper Island, and Kaipara.

---

Edited description from Videnskabelige Meddelelser by Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i København, vol 76, pp 239-245

Diagnosis. Column smooth. Collar very distinct in contracted state of the column. Margin somewhat undulated. Tentacles 160 to about 200 (or more) cylindrical, the inner considerably longer than the outer. Tentacles distributed over the greater part of the oral disc.

Colour?

Dimensions in preserved, rather contracted state: Largest specimen from Kaipara: length 2 cm, breadth 1.3 cm, that from Slipper Island, length: 1.5 cm, diameter of the column a short distance from the pedal disc 0.6 — 0.8 cm, diameter of the oral disc 0.7 cm, length of the inner tentacles about 0.3 cm. Smallest specimen : height of the column 0.7 cm, breadth of the pedal disc 0.5 cm.

Occurrence. Slipper Island, low water, together with Thoe vagrans. Kaipara, on conglomerates of sand.

Exterior aspect. The pedal disc is well developed, of almost the same breadth as the oral disc. The column is smooth with indistinct longitudinal furrows, which are more distinct and more numerous above the collar. In all specimens there is namely a perspicuous collar at some distance from the tentacles as in Metridium. Whether this collar is formed by a contraction of the pennons in the lower part of the body, resulting in a small invagination of the upper part of the column in the lower, or the collar is visible also in not contracted specimens, it is difficult to decide in preserved specimens. The circumstance, that in two very expended and elongated specimens there was a low, but rather distinct wall in the same place as in the other more contracted specimen, possibly speaks for the presence of a real collar. Above the collar the column is broader towards the tentacles at the same time as showing a tendency to be lobed. The cinclides are not visible in contracted state of the animal, but I have observed them in sections as well in the vicinity of the oral part of the actinopharynx, and at the basal disc as a!so in the collar region. Thus they are probably scattered. The tentacles are very numerous, I counted in the largest specimen about 160 tentacles. They are more cylindrical than conical, the inner tentacles considerably longer than the outer, one part of which are very small. Almost the whole disc is provided with tentacles.

Remarks. It is possible that this species is identical with Metridium canum Stuckey 1914 p. 134 from the Kermadec Islands, but the description of this species given by Stuckey is so imperfect and short, that it is impossible to decide its place. Among other things Stuckey does not mention any collar.

(ed. there is a very extensive scientific description that followed, but detail omitted here) less ↑

Common small anemone found on kelp.
Habitat
Brown kelp, often in cup shaped hollows between stalk and branches.

Column
Smooth, often deep brown but varies from yellow through olive. Often visually striped from top to bottom. A wrinkle around the column, about a third of the way up, acts as a brood pouch.
10 to 20mm high.

Oral disc
Iridescent, orange or green fading towards the outside, 10 to 15mm diameter. Mouth light blue or bright pink to magenta with an orange throat.

Tentacles
Light brown tinged with green, up to 96, 2 to 5mm long, tentacles in 4 whorls. Outer whorls maybe white, blue/green or pale blue with brown tips.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

---

An edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Art. XXXVI, Volume 41, 1908, pp374-398.
A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A.


This is the brown sagartian mentioned by Farquhar as probably forming the food of the butter-fish. It is found only on Lessonia, where it establishes itself in colonies.

Column.—The colour is, in general, deep brown, but there is some variation. Some specimens were greenish, some blue, and some yellow. The whole animal is iridescent. No cinclides are present.

Tentacles.—These are short and fine, and placed at the edge of the disc in three or four crowded cycles.

Oral Disc.—The colour is generally iridescent green, but it is very variable. The mouth is pink or magenta, and there are radial markings. The structure of the disc resembles that of the tentacles, but the musculature is weaker.

Presumably the young of this species are retained in the body till fully formed, for I found one specimen which had twelve young ones attached to the outside of the body-wall in a regular transverse circle about one-third of the height of the wall from the foot. If the young are not retained till they are considerably advanced, it is difficult to see how they can become attached in this manner unless there are external brood - pouches. I have seen no evidence in support of the latter view.

Acontia.—These are emitted from the mouth readily, but not in great numbers.

Dimensions.—Height, 12 mm.; breadth, about the same.

---

An edited version of Papers from Dr. Th. Mortensen's Pacific Expedition 1914-16. XXI.
Actiniaria from New Zealand and its Subantarctic Islands.
By Oskar Carlgren, Lund.


Tentacles to 96 (6+6+12+24+48), the inner more than twice as long as the outer. Embryos developing in an annular invagination around the column in its proximal half.

Colour. Column in general deep brown, sometimes greenish blue or yellow. Oral disc iridescent green, but the colour is very variable. Mouth pink or magenta with radial markings. The whole animal is iridescent (Stuckey).

Dimensions. Height and breadth l.2 cm in extended state? (Stuckey). In preserved state: 1) Height 1, breadth 0.9 cm. 2) Height 0.7, breadth 0.6 cm.

Exterior aspect. The wide pedal disc. The column is cylindrical to conical, smooth without cinclides, in certain stadia of contraction somewhat longitudinally folded. In many specimens there is a circular wall in the proximal half. The margin is distinct. The tentacles are short, fine and smooth, placed at the margin and hexamerously arranged 6 + 6 + 12 + 24 + 48 = 96, in large specimens the inner are more than twice as long as the outer. The greater part of the oral disc is devoid of tentacles. It is provided with radial furrows. The mouth is situated on a conus. The actinopharynx is well developed with longitudinal folds and provided with two rather distinct siphonoglyphes.

Anatomical description. This species is very interesting as provided with a circular brood-pouch in such a simple form as not before observed in Actilliaria). Stuckey writes: "Presumably the young of this species are retained in the body till fully formed for I found one specimen, which had twelve young ones attached to the outside of the body-wall in a regular transverse circle about one third of the height of the wall from the foot. If the young are not retained till they are considerably advanced it is difficult to see how they can become attached in this manner unless there are external brood pouches. I have seen no evidence in support of the latter view."
As we see from the description above, Stuckey has only observed one specimen the young of which had already left their brood-pouch. In fact this species has formed only a single brood-pouch consisting of a circular invagination around the column in its lower half. Already in younger individuals there are sometimes a distinct circular wall in the above named place. A longitudinal section of the column wall in this place shows that we have to do with a circular, though as yet rather shallow, invagination. The invagination contains no embryos. In a more advanced state the circular brood-pouch is considerably enlarged and reaches below the actinopharynx. In the sectioned specimen the brood-pouch contained several embryos not having developed their tentacles. As long as the embryos are small, both rims of the brood-pouch are closely pressed together, when the embryos grow they emigrate from the brood-pouch and attach themselves in the expanded outer part of the brood-pouch. In this stadium the embryos seem to stand in a circular furrow around the animal. From here they emigrate to the column wall.

It is this species which is mentioned by Dr. Mortensen in his paper "Observations on protective adaptions and habits, mainly in marine animals" as an instance of protective resemblance in an Actinian. It is stated to resemble the peculiar branches of the alga, on which it lives, to such a degree that it was very hard to distinguish. less ↑

Habitat

Column

Oral disc

Tentacles

Distribution

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An edited version of Papers from Dr. Th. Mortensen's Pacific Expedition 1914-16. XXI.

Actiniaria from New Zealand and its Subantarctic Islands.
By Oskar Carlgren, Lund.



Margin distinct with a well developed fossa. Cinclides in the region of the margin. Tentacles of the same number as the mesenteries, in large specimens 70-88. Longitudinal muscles of the tentacles and radial muscles of the oral disc palisade-like arranged. 2 siphonoglyphes with long aboral prolongations. Embryos developing in a deep circular fold round the column.

Colour?

Dimensions of the largest specimen in contracted state : Breadth of the pedal disc 2.2 cm, height of the column 2 cm.

Occurrence. Auckland Islands, Carnley Harbour, under stones, low-water. Campbell Island, Perseverance Harbour. Under stones, low water.

Pedal disc is wide. Column, as far I can see, without sucking warts, in the Auckland-specimens very contracted, so that there have arised deep circular and shallower longitudinal rows. 4 of the Auckland-specimens and 4 of the Campbell-specimens bear small young arranged in a more or less distinct annulus round the column. In one specimen there was round the column a deep fold, in which several young were hidden wholly or for the greater part. In some of the other specimens provided with young the circular fold for the young was hardly differentiated from the other circular folds of the column. The embryos had mostly immigrated from the brood-pouch. It is namely clear that we have to do with a species, the young of which develop their first stages in a brood-pouch of the same kind as in Cricophorus nutrix (compare this species). The margin is distinct with a deep fossa. In sections through the marginal region I have observed cinclides (stated in 5 specimens). The tentacles are hexamerously arranged. The youngest cycle is incomplete. The number of tentacles varies in the larger specimens from 70 to 88. Strange to say I have not observed the largest number in the largest specimens. Two specimens, each with 88 tentacles, were not more than 1 resp. 1.8cm broad at the pedal disc and 0.5 resp. 1cm high, while 3 specimens with a pedal disc of 2.3 resp. 2.3 and 2cm diameter and with a column 1.9, 1.8 and 1.5cm high had at most 76 tentacles. The tentacles were short, conical and in consequence of a bad preservation strongly depressed in the apex and here with a wide perforation. The oral disc is radially furrowed.

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Edited version of New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

Epiactis thompsoni (Coughtrey, 1875) and E. mortenseni (Carlgren, 1924)
by J. R. Ottaway (1975)

I have found 2 specimens of E. mortenseni at South Bay, Kaikoura,and one specimen outside the Edward Percival Marine Laboratory,Kaikoura (42° 25' S, 173° 42'E). All three specimens had reddish tentacles and columns with alternating longitudinal stripes of red and olive-green. One of the South Bay specimens was found under a stone at extreme low water spring tides; the other two were attached to Cystophora sp. about 50 m from shore in 4 m depth less ↑

A relatively large anemone
Habitat
Rock pools, sheltered sandy coasts.

Column
Wider at the base and top, with characteristic red and white stripes running from top to bottom. Up to 70mm high.

Oral disc
Red to reddish brown. 50mm diameter.

Tentacles
Up to 60 dull green, brown to pale grey tentacles, sometimes tipped in pink/mauve. About 25mm long.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ, more common in the South Island.

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Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 7, 1874, p280
Art. XLI.—Description of a new Species of Actinia.
By Professor M. Coughtrey, M.D. :

A lateral grower.—Body, 2.5cm long; striped vermilion and whitish-yellow, nearly all red, striæ entire; peristomic rim wide; tentacles round on trans. sect., conical in general form, 12mm long; shafts yellowish-white, tips purple, latter slightly shaded off as it passes into the shaft of tentacle, in three alternate rows of about twenty each.

At very low water, Deborah Bay, Port Chalmers, rocks.

Two others, one pale, half-inch long; striped vermilion-red and white; tentacles not tipped with purple; the other like A. messembryanthemum of Britain.

Named in honour of Captain Thompson, harbour-master.

Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, pp370-373
Art. XXXV.—On Two Anemones found in the Neighbourhood of Wellington—Leiotealia thompsoni and Sagartia albocincta.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. :

Pedal-disc.—Adhesive to rocks and boulders. It is rather wider than the column.

Column.—Cylindrical in shape. Its height can be varied in a rather marked manner in proportion to the diameter of the oral disc. The colour is white and red in alternate longitudinal lines, which, however, are not generally entire. The colours are deposited in patches, the red in small irregular spots, the white marks being more or less elliptical. This gives the surface of the column a somewhat chequered appearance under a lens of low power. There is a distinct ridge or collar round the top of the column. The colour of preserved specimens completely disappears, when the wall is seen to be thrown into parallel ridges which lie close together, running round the body of the animal like hoops round a cask. Each of these folds is wrinkled or pleated, the pleats being so close together and so nearly in line as to almost present the appearance of longitudinal ridges.

Tentacles.—These are arranged in three whorls—10 in the first or inner, 20 in the second, 30 in the third. This arrangement gives the appearance of their being placed in groups of six, thus: Each tentacle is conical in shape, and very stout. All the tentacles are equal in size. In colour they are of a dull white, with a mauve tip. In a few specimens, which, it is worth noting, were all obtained from Island Bay, the mauve tip was wanting, and in these cases the longitudinal markings of the body-wall appear to be entire. One specimen had light-brown tentacles. There is a pore at the tip of each tentacle.

Oral Disc.—The colour is reddish-brown, marked in radiating lines by the insertions of the mesenteries. The mouth is set on a darker-coloured prominent peristome, round which is a depression. There are two siphonoglyphs marked by pink tubercles.

Œsophagus.—The colour is a dull white, with brighter lines at the insertions of the mesenteries.

Dimensions.—A good specimen would be as much as 6–7 cm. in height and 4–5 cm. in breadth; tentacles, 2.5 cm.

Locality and Habits.—The species is apparently littoral, being found just above and below low-water mark, attached to the rocks and to loose stones. It is apparently fairly well distributed on the coast of New Zealand, but is not very numerous in any locality. It is more plentiful at Plimmerton than at any other place so far as I know. It has been found at most places-along the coast between Plimmerton and Wellington. Professor Coughtrey's specimens were found in Otago Harbour.

---

Summary of The New Zealand Sea Shore John Morton and Michael Miller, 1968, p158-9 :
Distributed from Wellington south, found in deep, sheltered, rock pools, sometimes in course gravel. Red and white striped column with a collar at the top, oral disc red to red-brown. 60 or so light grey or green tentacles , sometimes pink tipped. less ↑

A common small anemone easily confused with Isactinia olicvacea, but described as a more vivid green.
Habitat
Rocky shore intertidal zone, rock pools, crevices, and the undersides of ledges, adhering to and between rocks.

Pedal disc
Well developed pedal disc, pale tan approx same diameter as the column, up to 35mm diameter.

Column
The column averaging 20mm high, up to 35mm diameter. Usually green, but brown and reddish brown forms are known but are less common.
Light coloured adhesive areas run in lines up the side of the column and coarse sand and shell grit stick to these. During low tide the tentacles are retracted and the contracted column appears black, covered in the sand and shells.
There are no spherules or pseudospherules at margin of the column.

Tentacles
Regular array of 24 to 124 tentacles (possibly more in large specimens), the same colour as rest of the anemone. All approx the same length, the central ones are held erect, the marginal ones droop over edge.
One site says "tentacles that are the same colour as its column"

Distribution
Recorded from Auckland, Kaikoura, Otago Peninsula, but probably throughout NZ, and possibly misidentified as Isactinia olicvacea less ↑

Habitat
Usually found attached to rocks, but sometimes attached to brachiopod shells and some seaweeds. Most abundantly at or a few metres below low spring tide .

Column
Smooth uniform column without cinclides (holes that emit stinging threads); smooth and clean; low hourglass to pillar-like in form. With a broad pedal disc that sometimes exceeds the diameter of oral disc; moderately adherent. Bright uniform bright salmon pink/orange. Fully extended can be up to 48mm tall, and vary from 13 to 25mm diameter.

Oral disc
Bright salmon pink/orange and flat to concave. Mouth of moderate size and not raised.

Tentacles
Up to 192 white tentacles, moderately long, inner longer than outer, and those of inner whorl may form catch-tentacles. They are smooth and evenly tapered. The length of the inner ones is equal to radius of oral disc and about twice as long as outer ones. Catch-tentacles are rare but when present usually have slight sub-terminal swellings. The tentacles are arranged with six way radial symmetry in up to 6 whorls and cover the peripheral one-third of the disc.

Distribution
Otago. Now apparently ID'd in Wellington, so probably distributed in between if not further.

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An edited version (just the overt visual characteristics) of Habrosanthus bathamae, n. gen., n. sp. (Actiniaria: Sagartiidae) from New Zealand.

Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand : Zoology, Volume 1, Issue 6, 7 July 1961.
By Charles E. Cutress

Sagartiidae with broad adherent base. Column smooth, not divided into regions, and without cinclides. Innermost cycle of tentacles having potential to forrn catch-tentacles.

Tentacles up to 192, moderately long, inner longer than outer, and those of inner cycle having potential to form typical catch-tentacles. Colour of column, oral and pedal discs uniform bright salmon, tentacles white.

Description

General Features. Habrosanthus bathamae is a medium sized, soft-bodied actinian (Plate 1). In life, column hourglass to pillar-like in form. The anemone is most frequently found attached to rocks but is also taken on brachiopod shells and certain kinds of algae. The species occurs most abundantly at or a few feet below low spring tide level. The entoderm, in all specimens examined, lacks zooxanthellae.

Size. The two largest specimens, both well extended, have the following dimensions in centimetres: (A) length, 4.8; diameter of mid-column, 1.3; diameter of crown, 2.5; diameter of pedal disc, 2.0. (B) length, 1.5; diameter of crown, 2.5; diameter of oral disc, 1.7; diameter of pedal disc, 4.0.

Colour. Column, pedal and oral discs unmarked salmon or orange . Tentacles white. Acontia salmon. Filaments white.
Column. Not divided into regions; without cinclides; smooth and clean; low hourglass to pillar-like in form.
Pedal Disc. Broad and sometimes exceeding diameter of oral disc; moderately adherent. Ectoderm with pronounced border of intensely eosinophilic granules

Oral Disc. Flat to concave. Radial muscles of oral disc and longitudinal muscles of tentacles in the ectoderm. Tentacles arranged hexamerously in up to 6 cycles and covering peripheral one-third of disc. Mouth of moderate size and non-protuberant.

Tentacles. Up to 192 on large specimens; smooth; evenly tapered; acuminate; innermost equal to radius of oral disc in length and about twice as long as outermost; those of innermost cycle having potential to form catch-tentacles. Catch-tentacles rare, usually with slight sub-terminal swellings and containing at their tips numerous holotrichs and atrichs but no spirocysts.

Reproduction. Species dioecious. Asexual propagation by basal laceration common. less ↑

The NZ Organisms Register lists five species of Anthopleura known from New Zealand (http://www.nzor.org.nz/search?query=anthopleura).

Parry: A KEY T O T H E COMMON NEW ZEALAND ANEMONES

1. Anemones with basal disc of attachment, normally fixed to the substratum. 4.
2. _
3. _
4. Acontia absent. Column smooth or warty. 5.
5. Tentacles simple, arranged in cycles. Fam. Actiniidae. 13.
6. _
7. _
8. _
9. _
10. _
11. _
12. _
13. Column rough, with warts or vesicles. 15.
14. _
15. Column with warts or vesicles. 16.
16. Warts in regular longitudinal arrangement.17.

17. Warts large at the top of the column, becoming smaller and almost disappearing at the base. Fusion of the top two or three warts, surmounted by marginal spherules. Fairly small—1-3 cm. Brown, with white and yellow markings. Lives in mud flats and rock pools. Anthopleura areoradiata.
    White column, tentacles brown and white, but both may be pink or orange. Anthopleura inconspicua.
    Column cream or orange, disc white to pink, tentacles pink. Anthopleura rosea.
    Column dark red, tentacles and disc brown and white. Spherules pink, commonly in mussel beds. Anthopleura minima.
    Complex fusion of warts at top of the column, involving ten or so warts, surmounted by a prominent marginal spherule, usually white. Column thick and muscular. Height about 10 cm. Oulactis muscosa.

Comparison of the Anthopleura species, based on Table 2 by Spano & Häussermann, Anthopleura radians, a new species of sea anemone (Cnidaria: Actiniaria: Actiniidae) from northern Chile, with comments on other species of the genus from the South Pacific Ocean" - Biodiversity and Natural History (2017) Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-11:
less ↑

Common
Habitat
In hollows on mudstone or on shells, such as cockles, or stones on mudflats or tidal pools. In rocky intertidal and mudflats.

Column
Brown, yellow, and white. Brown column widening towards the top, up to 40mm high. Covered with small pale yellow or grey verrucae bumps in lines from top to bottom, prominent at the top margin. Has a groove with 24 marginal spherules at the base of the tentacles. Broods internally.

Oral disc
Brown or grey with slit mouth. With yellow mark on the peristome. 12 to 18mm diameter.

Tentacles
Up to 72 tentacles in 4 whorls, brown, mottled with irregular patches of silvery white, all about the same length. The tentacles are blunt and appear to have hollow tips.

Distribution
Throughout NZ and in South Australia.

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An edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Art. XXXIV, Volume 41, 1908, pp367-369:
Notes on a New Zealand Actinian, Bunodes aureoradiata
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. :

Specific Character.—Yellow radii in 6 groups of 3.

Pedal-disc. slightly wider than the column; the edge undulate to correspond with the vertical rows of warts. On each undulation are 2 or sometimes 3 perforations, through which, when irritated, the animal projects nematocysts torpedo-fashion, and in such a manner as at first sight to suggest feeble acontia.

Column.—Cylindrical. In full expansion it is higher than the breadth. The lower half is light or yellowish-brown, upper half greenish-brown. There are 24 vertical rows of warts or verrucæ: near the bottom of the column these become mere markings; they increase in size as they ascend the column, culminating in a row of 24 white beads at the bases of the outer whorl of tentacles.

Tentacles.—Conical and gently tapering. Pore at tip. Colour bronze-green, like that of the oral disc. The tentacles are very sensitive, and completely and quickly retractile; they number 48, and are arranged in 4 whorls, the formula being 6 + 6 + 12 + 24 = 48.

Oral Disc. The “mouth” is borne on a prominent peristome surrounded by a broken circle of yellow, from which extend 6 groups, each consisting of 3 radiating yellow lines with a shorter yellow line between each 2 groups. These yellow radii correspond to the first 3 whorls of tentacles, the tentacles of the 4th whorl being set opposite to the interspaces.

Æsophagus.—The colour is greyish-white. Each side of the œsophagus is thrown into 2 large lobes. Outgrowths of the mesoglœa, with corresponding foldings of the ectodermal lining of the œsophagus, give a much folded appearance, which in cross-sections somewhat resembles an exaggerated starfish.

Dimensions.—Oral disc 12 mm. wide in a good specimen. Height in full expansion rather more than 12 mm. The longest tentacles are about 8 mm.

Locality and Habits. The animal lives between tide-marks, almost completely buried in sand and mud. The presence of the zooxanthellæ probably enables it to adopt this habit.

---

An edited version of Actiniaria of New Zealand Part 1, 1951.
A check-list of recorded and new species a review of the literature and a key to the commoner forms
by G. Parry, M.Sc :

The column is straight and pillar-like, a little narrower at the base, widening towards the tentacles. The lines of mesenterial insertion down the column are shown as white lines. The brown colour of this anemone is probably due, at least in part, to the presence of the symbiotic zooanthellae.
The surface of it is covered with verrucae, arranged in longitudinal rows, their size diminishing from top to bottom. These verrucae sometimes attach pieces of detritus to the column, but this is not common. The verrucae tend to form compound structures just below the top of the column. The verrucae pale yellow, or grey.
There is a collar carrying 24, rather prominent, marginal spherules (less in smaller specimens, and +/- one or two fully grown ones). Marginal spherules are white,

The tentacles are in 4 cycles, 6, 6, 24, 36. A large specimen has about 70 tentacles. The different cycles are all much of the same size. The tentacles are brown, mottled with irregular patches of silvery white.

The oral disc is wide and flat, the tentacles always being held well out from the disc in expanded specimens. The peristome is small and the mouth slit-like. The colour is very constant, a combination of brown and yellow and white. The basis of Stuckey's specific name—' 6 yellow radii in groups of three ', are 6 yellow marks on the peristome. Beyond this there is a ring of 6 M's, and beyond this again, a ring of 6 W s . All this is on a pattern of brown. The upper part of the column is brown, fading to a cream at the base.

Extremely abundant, found in mud-flats of estuaries, and the shallow intertidal pools, throughout New Zealand;

---

Tuatara: Volume 6, Issue 2, December 1956
Seafloor Animals from the Region of Portobello Marine Biological Station, Otago Harbour
By Patricia M. Ralph and J. C. Yaldwyn

Venus shell anemone. A small, 12 to 18 mm high, brown and yellow anemone frequently epizooic with the Venus shell Austrovenus stutchburyi; column straight and pillar-like when fully extended, a little narrower at the base, widening upwards to the tentacles; surface covered with small adhesive yellow or grey warts, the upper part of the column brown in colour, fading to cream at the base; tentacles simple, brown mottled with irregular patches of silvery white; the colour of the animal rarely varies. Found throughout New Zealand.
less ↑

Uncommon, medium sized anemone.
Habitat
On stones our underside of rocks, or under sand with tentacles protruding. Another source just say in mudflats.

Pedal disc
Adherent, somewhat wider than the column

Column
OIive-brown to yellowish white but lighter towards the base, and a collar at the top. Covered with columns of brown (often pale centred) non-prominent verrucae warts which dwindle towards the base of the column. Ringed at the top of each column of warts by marginal spherules.

Oral disc
A white "mouth" often puckered outwards on an olive-brown disc. Up to about 15 to 20mm diameter. Dark lines radially from tentacles to centre.

Tentacles
48 long, olive brown, tentacles in 3 whorls (Batham says 4 whorls, about 120 in total). They are about as long as the disc is wide (Up to about 15 to 20mm). "Margined with white", they are often marked with whites spots on the inner surface.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

Have symbiotic Zooxanthellae.

---

Description extracted from Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 11, 1878, p308
Art. XXXII.—The Sea Anemones of New Zealand.
By Prof. Hutton. :

Genus: Column with suckers, but no loop-holes; margin of disc beaded.

Column cylindrical, as long or longer than broad, with vertical rows of suckers on warts. Olive brown above, passing into yellowish white below; the warts brown, often pale-centred. Disc round, concave, olive brown, sometimes marked with grey, marginal row of beads white.

Tentacles moderate, nearly or quite equal to the diameter of the disc, quite retractile; olive brown margined with white, and often white-spotted.

Diameter about 8mm.

In rock pools near Dunedin, abundant.

In some the warts are obsolete near the base, owing to the animal having lived in a narrow crack in the rocks. There is also a variety in which the tentacles are purplish grey, and the disc even is sometimes the same colour.

---

Edited description extracted from Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand , Volume 85, 1957-58, p647

By E J. Batham :

This species was named, by Hutton, Phymactis inconspicua. The vertical arrangement of its verrucæ, however, gives it a place in the genus Bunodes.

Basal Disc.—Adherent, rather wider than the column.

Column.—Cylindrical, slightly widening towards the base. Verrucæ in vertical rows, long and short rows alternating. Towards the lower end of the column they become less numerous and smaller, at last becoming mere marks. The colour of the column is whitish below, olive-brown above. The column closely resembles that of Anthopleura aureoradiata. Under the tentacles is a ring of white tubercles or “marginal beads,” each one being placed at the top of a vertical row of warts.

Tentacles.—These are placed in four whorls, and are about 120 in number. The largest is equal in length to the diameter of the disc. They are conical, and taper to a fine point. In colour they are olive-brown, with from 2 to 6 white spots on the inner side. They are completely retractile, and very sensitive. The lumen is filled with zooxanthellæ.

Oral Disc.—Flat; peristome raised. Colour olive-brown. "Mouth" white, often puckered outwards.

Dimensions.—My largest specimens were 15mm. high, and about the same in diameter, but I am told they grow much larger.

Distribution.—Of the genus—As above. Of the species—Dunedin, Wellington.

---

Tuatara: Volume 6, Issue 2, December 1956
Seafloor Animals from the Region of Portobello Marine Biological Station, Otago Harbour
By Patricia M. Ralph and J. C. Yaldwyn

Similar but larger than A. aureoradiata, up to 5cm. high, with a white column, less clearly defined warts and the tentacles olive brown barried with white on the mouth aspect. The body colours of this latter species are, however, very variable and both disc and column may be pink or orange.

---

Edited description extracted from The Actiniaria of New Zealand, Part I, page 105
By G Parry

Base - firmly adherent, and perhaps slightly wider than the column. Usually attached to stones, and the undersides of boulders.

Column - slightly widens towards the pedal disc and the oral disc. There are verrucae in precise longitudinal rows, disappearing in the lower half of the column. They are not so prominent, even in the upper part, as in A.aureoradiata. They are tipped with white, but do not appear to be adhesive, since specimens are seldom found with any detritus attached to them. The column is olive brown above, fading to cream at the base. There is a definite collar and fosse at the top of the column, with a ring of white marginal spherules.

Oral disc - usually rather concave, with the peristome flat, at the bottom. Often in normal conditions it is not fully expanded, but sunken, with the tentacles held over the disc. Colour of the disc is olive brown, with darker lines along the mesenteries. The peristome is white and is broken by two bands of brown running from the bases of the directive tentacles, four thinner bands running from the other primary tentacles. This colour variety described is the commonest found, although I have seen others with a combination of pale yellow and brown, or orange and brown.

Tentacles - 48, in 3 cycles, 12, 12, 24, in the largest specimens I have seen. Stuckey records u p to 120 tentacles in smaller specimens. They are rather long and fine, about the same length as the diameter of the disc. They are olive brown, barred with white on the oral aspect. The 12 tentacles of the first cycle are a darker brown than the others. They are very sensitive and are quickly withdrawn into the coelenteron, on the slightest stimulation.

Size - Generally larger than A. aureoradiata. Large specimens have height of column 4-5 cm., diameter of disc 1.5-2 cm., length of tentacles is 1.5-2 cm., width of base, up to 3 cm.

This anemone is not particularly common, although if one knows its usual environment well, it is usually possible to find one or two. It prefers a sheltered area, where there is a coarse muddy bottom, with small rocks. Usually it is attached to that part of a rock which is buried in the mud, and projects upwards, so that the crown is a centimetre or so above the mud surface. It also prefers to be out of a bright light. Stuckey records the species from Dunedin and Wellington. I have found it at Piha (Auckland), Portobello (Port Chalmers), Menzies Bay and Taylor's Mistake (Banks Peninsula), and Goose Bay (Kaikoura).
less ↑

Locally numerous.
Habitat
.

Pedal disc
Pedal disc broad, 0.8cm.

Column
Column in contracted state conical, in upper part with distinct Urticina-verrucae.
Height 0.7 cm. Colour in alcohol reddish or white.

Oral disc
.

Tentacles
Tentacles from 38-54. 2 distinct gonidial tubercules and siphonoglyphes

Distribution
Stewart Island, Paterson Inlet, Port Pegasus; littoral, under stones.

Endoderm with Zooxanthellae.

---

Description extracted from Scientific Announcements, Danish Natural History Association in Copenhagen Volume 77, 1924, pp211-212
Anthopleura sp.?
By Dr. Th. Mortensen. :

Diagnosis. Pedal disc broad. Column in contracted state conical, in upper part with distinct Urticina-verrucae corresponding to the endocoels. Fossa distinct. Sphincter as in aureo-radiata. Tentacles from 38-54. 2 distinct gonidial tubercules and siphonoglyphes. Mesenteries about 24 pairs one half perfect. Pennons of the mesenteries strong with high and ramificated folds (stronger than in aureo-radiata). Parietobasilar muscles strong, forming a distinct fold. Nematocysts of the column 12-17 x (1)1,5-2u, those of the tentacles 17-22x1.5u, those of the marginal sphaerules partly 29-37x3,5-4,5(5)u, partly 25-31x(2)2,5-3,5u (probably transition stages between the two kinds present). those of the actinopharynx 22-24x2u. Spirocysts of the tentacles 10x1-23x2,5 u. Endoderm with Zooxanthellae.

Colour in alcohol reddish or white.

Dimensions. Largest specimen from Paterson Inlet: breadth of the pedal disc 0,8 cm, height 0,7 cm.

Occurrence. Stewart Island, Paterson Inlet; littoral, under stones 18.11.1914 numerous specimens. Stewart Island, Port Pegasus; littoral, under stones 22.11.1914. 2 specimens.

I have not given a name to this species, because the specimens were not sexually ripe and it is possible that it is a young form of Anthopleura inconspicua (Phymactis inconspicua Hutton, Bunose inconspicua Stuckey) or of A. rosea (Bunodes rosea Stuckey and Walton). The Urticina-verrucae were mostly distinct, in some specimens they had stones attached to them. The tentacles were 38, 38, 48, 54 in 4 examined specimens, in the last specimen (from Port Pegasus) the tentacles were 24 on one side, 30 on the other. In the largest sectioned specimen from Paterson Inlet the mesenteries were 48, or which one half perfect. Also in hand-section through the under part of the largest specimen from Port Pegasus I counted 48 stronger mesenteries, but it is probable that some very small mesenteries were besides present (compare the number of tentacles). less ↑

Habitat
Common. Often associated with mussels near low tide level on exposed reefs. Either on the mussels or the rock between the mussels. Small ones are also found also among the tubes of fan tube worms.

Column
The base is wider than the column with an irregular flange around the edge. The column is dark pink or orange or red or brick with verrucae bumps, of the same colour, which may stick to shell fragments etc. The column is 20 to 30mm high and 10 to 15mm diameter.

Oral disc
At the edge of the disc in a collar at the top of the column are 12 to 48 pink (or sometimes white) spherules.
The oral disc is described alternately as a complex pattern from the centre of yellow/brown/grey with radiating yellow lines or as a complex pattern of light and dark green and grey from a pink/red area around the mouth to the outside of the disk.
Also "The actinopharynx itself is orange or pink with the siphonoglyphes marked by a transverse brown band. Two to five siphonoglyphs have been observed in different specimens, asymmetrically arranged" or "With radiating gold marks running from the peristome towards the bases of the tentacles"

Tentacles
In three whorls, up to about 36 tentacles described alternately as half the diameter of the oral disc, or about the same length as the oral disc. Also "They are mottled with silver and brown in a complex pattern. Directives and the first cycle of six are mostly white, with a central dark streak. The others are mostly brown on the oral side, with a few irregular white spots. Those adjacent to the inner ring of six, have the side adjacent, also white. In shape the tentacles are broad at the base, rather blunt" and "Fairly stout, tapering gently. Semi-transparent, with white bars and dots. There is a white area round the base, then a few dark lines."

Distribution
NZ wide.

Reproduction
"possible ... that it reproduces by lateral fission, although partially divided animals have never been found"

Zooxanthellae not present.

---

Edited version of Records of the Canterbury Museum, Vol 6, No 1, p107-8, Nov 1951
Article: The Actiniaria of New Zealand - a check-list of recorded and new species, a review of the literature, and a key to the commoner forms Part 1
By G. Parry. :

Anthopleura minima, Stuckey and Walton, 1910

Habitat
This is a firmly adherent species, often attached to mussels, or to the rock between mussel attachments.
The most common environment is in the mussel beds which are found on exposed reefs. It sometimes occurs in large numbers in such an environment, attached to the mussel shells near their attachment to the rocks, or between the mussels, on the rock itself. It is generally near low tide level. Small specimens are found also among the tubes of the serpulid Pomatoceros sp. Isolated specimens are found rarely beneath boulders at low tide level on sheltered rocky shores.

Pedal disc
The base is irregular in outline, wider than the column and with quite a distinct flange. It is pink in colour.

Column
The column is pillar-like, but very variable in shape. Colour varies from dark pink or red, to orange or brick. Verrucae are present, but are not particularly prominent, nor do they commonly appear to act as suckers, although they are able to do so. Their colour is the same as that of the column. There is a well-marked collar at the top of the column, and within it a ring of 12 (or up to 48 in large specimens) spherules. They are pink although occasionally white.

Oral Disc
The oral disc is flat in expansion with the peristome flat or slightly raised. There is a complicated pattern of gold and brown and grey, with radiating gold marks running from the peristome towards the bases of the tentacles. The actinopharynx itself is orange or pink with the siphonoglyphes marked by a transverse brown band. Two to five siphonoglyphs have been observed in different specimens, asymmetrically arranged. It seems possible from this, and from the gregarious nature of the species, that it reproduces by lateral fission, although partially divided animals have never been found.

Tentacles
The tentacles are commonly 36, or more in larger individuals. The number is variable, and there is seldom a strictly hexamerous arrangement. They are mottled with silver and brown in a complex pattern. Directives and the first cycle of six are mostly white, with a central dark streak. The others are mostly brown on the oral side, with a few irregular white spots. Those adjacent to the inner ring of six, have the side adjacent, also white. In shape the tentacles are broad at the base, rather blunt, and half the diameter of the disc.

Size
In size, height may be 2-3 cm, diameter 1-1.5 cm, tentacles 0.5 cm long.

Distribution
It has been found in large numbers at Otohuao in mussel beds (near Menzies Bay) and similarly at Wainui (Akaroa); in serpulid tubes at Taylor's Mistake; also from Menzies Bay, Portobello (Otago Harbour), St. Helier's Bay, Manukau Harbour (Auckland), and Goose Bay (Kaikoura).

---

An edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Art. LV., Volume 42, 1909, p543:
Notes on a Collection of Sea-anemones.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A., and C. L.Walton. :

Bunodes minima, sp. nov.

Pedal Disc
Adherent to rocks; irregular in outline.

Column
Rosy pink, or light orange. Slightly higher than broad. Wrinkled. Warts few. Marginal beads white or pink.

Oral Disc
Centre rose-colour. Between this and bases of tentacles is a complicated pattern of light and dark olive-green and grey.

Tentacles
36 in number. As long as diameter of disc, or slightly more. Fairly stout, tapering gently. Semi-transparent, with white bars and dots. There is a white area round the base, then a few dark lines.

Size
We did not record the exact dimensions, but the species is smaller than B. inconspicua. less ↑

A suggested new species of sea anemone as described by Carlos Spano and Vreni Häussermann and published by Biodiversity and Natural History (2017) Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-11. These look very much like anemones found in NZ.
"... Since no type specimen (or any specimen at all) could be found for A. minima, the decision whether or not it is a senior synonym of A. radians remains pending until new samples from its original locality are examined." less ↑

Common, small anemone.
Habitat
Under stones in sheltered places in fine gravel or coarse sand. In places where coarse sand meets stones.

Pedal disc
Adherent, light coloured, wider than column.

Column
Varies from white/grey to bright orange or olive-green. Has lines of white verrucae, adhesive bumps, from top to bottom to which shell fragments and grit stick.
Has light coloured marginal spherules at base of tentacles.

Oral disc
Flat or slightly concave yellowy-white oral disc with 12 radiating darker lines from a similarly dark ring around the white mouth.

Tentacles
48 tentacles arranged in 3 whorls. Rosey pink, blotched with brown and white, appear banded.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

Zooxanthellae not present.

---

Description extracted from Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 42, 1909, p541
Art. LV.—Notes on a Collection of Sea-anemones.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A., and C. L.Walton.

Pedal Disc
Adherent to rocks.

Column
Olive-green, orange-brown, or umber. Covered with warts; most numerous about middle of column. The warts have suckers, to which particles adhere. There is a row of white spherules on the margin.

Oral Disc
Yellowish-white, with 12 darkumber rays, united in the middle of the disc by a circle of the same colour, thus producing a wheel-like pattern. The rays split in two. Stomodœum.—The mouth is raised on a cone.

Tentacles
In three whorls, 40 to 50 in number; probably 12+12+24 in normal specimens. They are thick at the base, and taper to a point. The colour is rosy red, brightest at the tip and dull umber at the base. They are irregularly marked on the inner surface with bars and spots.

Size
Height of column, 5 mm.; diameter when fully expanded, 18 mm.; diameter of oral disc, 7 mm.; longest tentacle, 6 mm.

Reproduction
This species has been observed by us to increase by fission.

Distribution
Pukeroa and neighbourhood.

---

Edited version of Records of the Canterbury Museum, Vol 6, No 1, p106-7, Nov 1951
Article: The Actiniaria of New Zealand - a check-list of recorded and new species, a review of the literature, and a key to the commoner forms Part 1
By G. Parry. :

Habitat
The species is found commonly under stones, in sheltered places, embedded in fine gravel or coarse mud. It is just below tide level, except occasionally.

Pedal Disc
Adherent, often buried in mud, etc., and cream in colour. It is a little wider than the collar, which is pillar shaped in expansion.

Column
Verrucae in longitudinal rows, to which particles are attached. Colour very variable, from white or grey, to bright orange, olive green, etc. The verrucae are white. At the top of the column, lying within the well-marked fosse, is a ring of white spherules.

Oral disc
Flat or slightly concave, with raised peristome. Colour is creamy white with 12 dark brown rays running out from the dark brown peristome. Throat is white.

Tentacles
Fairly short, and taper to a fine point. They are 40-50 in large specimens, in three cycles (12, 12, 24). They are a rosy pink colour, translucent, and irregularly marked with brown and white spots. These spots are more numerous at the base of each tentacle, and disappear towards the tip.

Reproduction
The reproduction of this species, according to Stuckey and Walton, is by fission, although I have myself seen no evidence for this.

Distribution
It has been found at Menzies Bay, Portobello (Otago Harbour), Onehunga (Auckland), and Pukeroa and neighbourhood (Stuckey and Wilson) less ↑

Attached beneath rocks, and curves up in a "J" shape through the sediment to bring its mouth and tentacles above the surface.

---

Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p387-8
Art. XXXVI.—A Review of the New Zealand Actiniaria known to Science, together with a Description of Twelve New Species.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A., Wellington.

Genus Paractis(Andres).

“Paractidœ with smooth body-wall, without papillæ or marginal spherules; tentacles slender, and not exceptionally numerous; nearly equal in length and strength; margin not lobed; sphincter widening somewhat abruptly in its upper part, and occupying, near the margin, nearly the entire thickness of the mesoglœa.”

Paractis ferax (sp. nov.).

Pedal-disc.—Adherent to the under-sides of stones, or to rocks, in dark places. The chief histological feature is the thick mesoglœa, which is indeed a noticeable feature of the whole animal. The fibres are wavy, and there are many lacunæ. The ectoderm is of the usual type, about half as thick as the mesoglœa. The endoderm is thin.

Column.—It is generally cylindrical in shape, but is occasionally constricted at various parts, giving the animal a vase-shaped contour. The column bears, especially in contraction, fine transverse wrinkles. Its height can be varied very considerably, but is generally equal to two or three times the diameter. The colour is milky white. In contraction the animal is drawn into a hard rounded ball of the size of a small marble. The ectoderm and endoderm are of the normal type. The mesoglœa is thick, about equal to the ectoderm, but at intervals it becomes thin, as shown in fig. 9. This feature seems to be characteristic. In other places, numerous enough for the structure to be considered characteristic, the mesoglœa forks, sending out a process which is lined on both sides by ectoderm, and which lies close to the body-wall.

Tentacles.—These are conical in form, tapering to a fine point, and reducible to thin filaments. In colour they are white, with brown markings. Each has a brown tip. They are arranged very evenly in four cycles, the inner two nearly equal. Each of these two contains 6 tentacles; the third contains 12 slightly shorter; the fourth contains 24, shorter still. The ectodermal muscles are strong, and are borne on long processes of the mesoglœa. The mesoglœa is very fibrous, and contains a large number of nuclei. There are numerous nematocysts.

Oral Disc.—The disc is white, with a slight brownish tinge. Some specimens have radiating brownish lines. There is a pair of opaque-white lines radiating from the siphonoglyphs to the edge of the disc. The mouth is somewhat depressed, and the siphonoglyphs are not prominent. The stomodæum is not readily everted. The histological characters of the disc closely resemble those of the tentacles.

Sphincter Muscle.—This is mesoglœal in character, consisting of a thickening of the mesoglœa in the upper part of the column, the thickened portion containing numerous muscle-spaces. The whole mesoglœa of the wall is muscular, producing, no doubt, the strong contraction which is so characteristic of the animal.

Mesenteries.—There are 32 to 36 pairs, 2 pairs being directives. The musculature is very strong, the muscle-banners appearing as great rounded masses, but slightly attached to the mesentery.

Gonads.—The mesenteries are all fertile, except the directives. All the animals sectioned happened to be females, and all showed remarkable fertility. Ova appeared at nearly all stages. At first they occupy a position imbedded in the mesoglœa, but as they advance in maturity they form great masses, almost filling the intermesenterial spaces. Finally they may become detached from the mesenteries and form globular masses, showing in cross - sections as rounded discs or rings. No embryos were seen.

Habits.—All my specimens were found in dark places, never more than four in one place, usually single specimens. The species seems rather uncommon.

Dimensions.— 2—18 mm. in diameter, 25—45 mm. in height.

Distribution.— Island Bay, Ohiro Bay. less ↑

Large anemone, very common within its range.
Habitat
Offshore on hard substrate or broken shells.

Pedal disc
Cream adherent base.

Column
Varies from deep to pale orange/apricot, fades towards base. Covered with pale orange/white verrucae bumps in lines from top to bottom. Marked collar at top. About 100mm high.

Oral disc
Varies from white to orange, about 40 to 50mm diameter.

Tentacles
Up to 100, white, medium length.

Distribution
Endemic, East coast of south Island. Known from Lyttleton, Akaroa, Otago. less ↑

Cadet Hand in 1960 described this new species that up until then had been assigned the name Metridium canum by Parry (1951,52), Ralph & Yaldwyn (1956), Batham (1956), Grimstone (1958). The original Metridium canum of Stuckey (1914) and Carlgren (1949) is a separate species.

Habitat
Usually partially buried in muddy sand, with numerous shells, pebbles present.

Column
Divided into the main column (scapus) and neck (capitulum) separated by a collar which disappears when the anemone is fully extended. The neck narrows then flares out into a lobed oral disk.
Colour light grey-green, sometimes khaki (light browny yellow). Colour fades at about mid column down to white at the base.

Oral disc
Up to six undulating lobes in large specimens.
Colour about the same grey-green as the capitulum. White or cream coloured lips, heavily ribbed, usually rises slightly above the oral disk.

Tentacles
Inner most slightly longer than outer, up to 2.5cm long. Numerous, fine, forming a frilly crown.
Colour about the same as the neck (grey-green), with no markings. Translucent when extended.

Distribution

---

Edited version of Tuatara: Volume 6, Issue 2, December 1956
Seafloor Animals from the Region of Portobello Marine Biological Station, Otago Harbour
By Patricia M. Ralph and J. C. Yaldwyn

Metridium canum (Stucky). The plumose anemone. Up to 15cm with a well developed adherent base but often so deeply buried in sand or mud that it does not appear to be attached. Column soft and thin-walled and colour merges from a dull grey-green at the mouth end to almost white at the base. Disc same colour as upper part of column. Tentacles very numerous and tapering to a point so that the animal appears to have a ‘ruff’ about the mouth. The animals prefer a dim light and only about 2 to 3cm appear above the surface of the mud, and when covered with water the extended disc and tentacles appear almost flush with the surface. When exposed and contracted at low tide they appear as conical humps. Rare.

---

edited version of Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand : Zoology, Volume 1, Issue 4, 15 July 1961
Two New Acontiate New Zealand Sea Anemones
By Cadet Hand

Description (see PI. 1 and Fig. 1).

Base. Generally circular in outline, adherent and with well developed basilar muscles present. When the anemone is well elongated the base may be twice, or even more than twice, the diameter of the scapus (see PI. 1, E). The base is used in active burrowing when this species is freed upon a sandy or muddy substrate, and the anemone sometimes actively creeps about on its base in aquaria. The colour of the base in freshly collected specimens is a creamy white, apparently due to a lack both of intrinsic pigment and of symbiotic algal cells. In expanded individuals the base becomes transparent.

Column. Divisible into a scapus and capitulum which are separated by a collar (see PI. 1, G). In expansion the collar disappears and the column becomes very elongate (see PI. 1, D, which is the same anemone as PI. 1, G). In attached animals the scapus is nearly the same diameter throughout except near the base, where it flares towards the limbus. In extreme extension the scapus becomes nearly transparent and its diameter may be only about one-sixth of its length; commonly it tapers gently from the flared base to the collar or collar region. Above the collar the capitulum narrows and then expands again to meet the lobed and widely spread tentaculate margin of the oral disc. The capitulum is slightly thinner and is more transparent than the scapus. In full extension the capitulum is only about one quarter or one-fifth the length of the scapus. The minimal diameter of the capitulum may be less than one half that of the scapus, or in other poses the diameter of both may be nearly the same. In freshly collected specimens the colour of the capitulum and upper half of the scapus is a light grey-green, sometimes khaki, resulting from the presence of symbiotic algae in the endoderm. This colour fades gradually at about the mid-scapus to the white of the base. Specimens kept for months in daylight illuminated aquaria gradually become nearly the same grey-green throughout due apparently to a spread of algae to the more basal tissues. The difference in coloration of the upper and lower parts of a freshly collected specimen is indicated in Plate IE. In the field only the upper third or half of the scapus extends above the sand or mud in which the anemone dwells, and it is only in this upper, more illuminated, part that the algae seem to thrive (PI. 1, A). The scapus and proximal capitulum show 48 lines throughout their length which correspond with the 48 mesenteries present in these regions. The upper capitulum shows many more lines, up to and probably more than 384, corresponding to the many additional mesenteries present at the margin. Cinclides are present throughout the scapus, occurring most abundantly in the endocoels, of the upper half of the scapus. The cinclides are perforate and in longitudinal sections of the column can be seen to occur as breaks in the mesogloea with both the ectoderm and endoderm becoming thinner and tapering to the actual pore. In life the cinclides of an expanded specimen can be seen as' sometimes opaque but usually transparent minute specks. Acontia are ' readily emitted, through the cinclides. The cinclides are not arranged in rings, and, being relatively scarce in the exocoels, give the impression of being in longitudinal rows.

Cinclides do not occur in the capitulum.

Oral Disc. Wider than the column when expanded and folded into about six undulating lobes in large specimens (PI. 1, B). There is little tentacle-free area around the mouth. In the tentacle-free area numerous pairs of lines representing the mesenterial insertions show through the rather transparent tissues. Colour of the disc about the same grey-green as the capitulum and upper scapus. The white or cream coloured lips of the actinopharynx are heavily ribbed and the two siphonoglyphs can usually be seen. The number of ribs on the lips vary, there being about 24 in small specimens to about 48 in large ones. The lips usually are raised slightly above the level of the disc.

Tentacles. Regularly hexamerous in arrangement, with five to seven or eight cycles present. As far as can be determined the number of tentacles corresponds exactly to the number of mesenteries. A medium sized specimen (10 cm long by 3 cm diameter) had 384 mesenteries at the margin and apparently the same number of tentacles. Larger specimens appear to have more mesenteries and correspondingly more tentacles. The inner tentacles are longer than the younger, outermost ones, although most tentacles are of about the same length. On a large anemone an individual tentacle may be as much as 2.5 cm long, and all tentacles are gently tapered throughout their length. The tentacles are translucent when extended and of about the same colour as the capitulum and upper scapus. No special pigments, bands, bars or other markings occur on the tentacles. The very numerous fine tentacles and the lobed disc give the crown a rather frilly appearance (PI. 1, B-E). As individual tentacles contract they sometimes appear to show a darker central area surrounded by a translucent outer layer. This appearance seems to result from the symbiotic algae present in the tentacular endoderm.

Size. The sizes of some small to medium specimens are indicated in Plate 1, which is reproduced at life-size. In the field small specimens whose length is barely 2 cm have been encountered as have very large specimens capable of expanding to at least 30 cm long. One large specimen in the preserved condition had the following measurements: 13 cm tall, 7 cm diameter base, 8 cm diameter mid-column, 9 cm diameter crown, 4.5 cm diameter at collar.

Localities and Habitat. This species is locally abundant near the Portobello Marine Biological Station in Otago Harbour. There is a large colony living in the shade of a beached hulk on Quarantine Island (also known as St. Martin’s Island) and individuals can be seen beneath the wharves at Port Chalmers. Other specimens have been collected at Weller’s Rocks and isolated individuals have been seen, or collected from various other localities. Within the intertidal zone the species is quite rare except in shaded situations such as under wharves or alongside the hulk mentioned above, although occasional isolated individuals may be seen in completely unshaded positions. This anemone occurs from about the level of the low water of neap tides well into the subtidal. The most numerous population noted to date occurs between about the low water level of neap tides down to that of spring tides in the shade of the old hulk on Quarantine Island. The substrate in which the species lives is usually a muddy sand with rather numerous bivalve shells, pebbles and small stones present. It is to these latter items that the anemones attach, although occasional individuals, especially the smaller ones, seem not to be attached. In their natural habitat they usually live partially buried in the substrate, although some individuals, particularly smallish ones, may be found hanging from the underside of the old hulk. The base of the anemone may be attached from a few to 15 cm or more beneath the surface, depending upon the size of the individual, and only the upper third or half of the animal is to be seen above the surface of the substrate.

Type Locality. Otago Harbour, N.Z. less ↑

Metridium canum is a species from the Kermadec Islands described by Stuckey (1914) and noted by Carlgren (1949). This name was applied to a species found around the coast of mainland New Zealand (Parry (1951,52), Ralph & Yaldwyn (1956), Batham (1956), Grimstone (1958)) until Cadet Hand (1960) described that one as a separate species (and genus) Mimetridium cryptum.

Habitat
Occurs near the low water mark on the under-side of stones, tolerates a muddy or sandy bottom.

Column
Grayish cylindrical column which is narrower than the adherent pedal disc . There are cinclides on the upper part of the column. The column is longitudinally wrinkled when contracted. 10mm diameter, and 9mm high when contracted. Disc 15mm diameter.

Oral disc

Tentacles
About 200 tentacles crowded and arranged in 4 to 5 whorls; may have black tips.

Distribution
Kermadec Islands.

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Edited version of Description of a Collection of Actinians from the Kermadec Islands, Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Art. XXIII
by F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A., Wellington (1913)

Metridium canum n. sp.

The collector's description is: "Greyish. Abundant on the under-side of stones near low-water mark, Coral Bay, Sunday Island. This species…tolerates a muddy or sandy bottom."

Pedal Disc. - Adherent, rather wider than the column.

Column. - Cylindrical. Longitudinally wrinkled in contraction. Cinclides are present on the upper part of the column.

Tentacles. - About 200 in number, crowded and arranged in four, or perhaps five, cycles. In some of the preserved specimens the tentacles have black tips.

Body-wall. - The usual hexactinian features are observable. The mesogloea is comparatively thick, though variable in different portions of transverse sections. It appears fibrillar in structure, and contains numerous collections of cells.

Sphincter: - A weak mesogloeal sphincter is present.

Mesenteries.- There are four cycles, 45 pairs in all. Of these, only the primaries, 6 pairs in number, are perfect.

Dimensions (of largest specimen, contracted).- Height, 9 mm.; diameter of column, 10 mm.; diameter of disc, 15 mm. less ↑