Metridium farcimen Tilesius, 1809
Common name(s): Giant plumose anemone
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Synonyms: Metridium marginatum,
Metridium giganteum |
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Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Subclass Zoantharia
Order Actiniaria
Family Metridiidae |
Metridium farcimen on a dock at Anacortes, with some M. senile
nearby. Height about 15 cm, crown diameter about 13 cm. |
(Photo by: Dave Cowles Nov 2005) |
Description: This anemone is white, brick
red-orange, or brown. It can be up to 1 m tall when extended and
has more than 100 long, slender tentacles,
except in small individuals The edges of the oral
disk are prominently lobed. The column
has acontia,
which may be shot out when disturbed (photo); but
does not have tubercles.
Height to 50 cm and crown diameter to 25 cm. Taller than wide when
fully extended, but can change its proportions dramatically. This
species has only recently been distinguished from Metridium
senile. Gotshall
(1994) states that this species is exclusively white but I have seen
orange and brown individuals much larger than 10 cm tall, and other authors
also report colored forms. Brown individuals seem more common in
California than in the Pacific Northwest.
How to Distinguish from Similar Species:Metridium
senile has a similar form and coloration but grows only up to about
10 cm tall, has less than 100 tentacles, and the oral disk is not prominently
lobed.
Geographical Range: Alaska to Santa
Catalina Island, CA. Especially common in Puget Sound, the San Juan
Islands, and the Strait of Georgia.
Depth Range: Subtidal to at least
200 m; occasionally found intertidally.
Habitat: Attached to rocks, floating
docks, and pilings.
Biology/Natural History: These anemones
live many years. This species does not seem to reproduce asexually,
as does M. senile. It
is said to be solitary, but I have frequently seen it in aggregations on
Sares Head, though perhaps not as tightly packed together as one sees with
M.
senile on docks. The acontia
do not sting the skin but could definitely sting the eyes or tongue.
This species, which can be up to 1 m tall when extended, is said to be
the world's tallest polyp.
References: Note: References older than 1989 do not distinguish
between M. senile and M.
farcimen.
Dichotomous Keys:
Kozloff
1987, 1996
Smith
and Carlton, 1975
General References:
Brusca
and Brusca, 1978
Gotshall,
1994
Gotshall
and Laurent, 1979
Harbo,
1999
Johnson
and Snook, 1955 (as Metridium dianthus)
Kozloff,
1993
McConnaughey
and McConnaughey, 1985
Morris
et al., 1980
Niesen,
1997
O'Clair
and O'Clair, 1998
Ricketts
et al., 1985
Sept,
1999
Scientific Articles:
Fautin, D.G., A. Bucklin, and C. Hand, 1989. Systematics of sea
anemones belonging to the genus Metridium (Coelenterata: Actiniaria),
with a description of M. giganteum, new species. Wasmann J.
Biol. 47: 77-85
Glon, Heather, Vreni Haussermann, Paul E. Brewin, Paul Brickle, Sungsik
Kong, Megan L. Smith, and Marymegan Daly, 2023. There and Back Again: The
Unexpected Journeys of Metridium de Blainville, 1824 between the
Old Oceans and throughout the Modern World. Biological Bulletin 244:1 pp.
9-24
Wells, Christopher D., Gustav Paulay, Bryan N. Nguyen, and Matthieu
Leray, 2022. "DNA metabarcoding provides insights into the diverse diet
of a dominant suspension feeder, the giant plumose anemone Metridium
farcimen." Environmental DNA 4:1 pp. 147-156
Web sites:
General Notes and Observations: Locations, abundances,
unusual behaviors:
These two individuals have been disturbed and have released threadlike
acontia.
The individual on the left has released the acontia
from the mouth, while the one on the left has released an acontium
from a pore in the body wall.
Even small individuals such as this one, about 10 cm tall, have lobed
edges to the oral disk. Photographed at 15 m depth by Dave Cowles 2019
Some individuals are brown in color.
Authors and Editors of Page:
Dave Cowles (2005): Created original page
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