Warty Anemone, Bunodosoma californicum

Warty Anemone, Bunodosoma californicum. Sea anemone photographed in it’s native environment off Isle Carmen within the Bahía de Loreto National Park, Baja California Sur, March 2025. Photograph and identification courtesy of Dr. Jake Turin, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Phylogeny:  The Warty Anemone, Bunodosoma californicum (Carlgren, 1951), is a member of the Actinidae Family of Sea Anemones. The Bunodosoma Genus is one of fifty-six genera in the Actiniidae Family, and there are thirteen species in the Bunodosoma Genus. They are known as the Cortez Sea Anemone and the Warty Sea Anemone  and in Mexico as Anémona Califoriana and Anémona Anémona Verrugosa. In common namesake they can be confused with the American Warty Anemone or Warty Sea Anemone, Bunodosoma cavernatum (Bosc, 1802), found in Mexican waters of the Caribbean.

Morphology: The Warty Anemone has a column that is covered with densely packed rounds bumps (verrucae or vesicles) and is non-adhesive, being free of debris. The vesicles are arranged in neat longitudinal rows at the base of the column and are more random further up the column. The column varies in color from olive green to greenish-brown to rusty red. The oral disk is the same color as the column but has light radial lines. They have approximately 80 conical tentacles, that are slightly shorter   than the width of the oral disk, that are arranged in three or four rings around the oral disk. The tentacles are of similar color to the column but have tinges of orange, purple or rose and are white at their base. The Warty Anemone reach a maximum of 4.0 cm (1.4 inches) in height and has a base that ranges in width between 2.0 cm (0.8 inches) and 3.0 cm (1.2 inches).

Habitat and Distribution: The Warty Anemone is found in protected marine environments attached to reefs and rocky substrate from the intertidal zone to the subtidal zone. The Warty Anemone is found in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from along the west coast of the Baja Peninsula.

Diet: The Warty Anemone is a carnivore that utilizes stinging cells (nematocysts) in its tentacles to paralyze its prey. The tentacles then push the food into the mouth found in the center of the oral disc.

Reproduction: The Warty Anemone is gonochoric with female and male individuals. Reproduction involves broadcast spawning with the females releasing eggs which are then fertilized by sperm from the males. Some individuals within the Actinidae Family are able to reproduce by fission, however such fusion has not been formally documented for the Warty Anemone.

Conservation: From a conservation perspective the Warty Anemone has not been formally evaluated. The Warty Anemone is not suitable for use in aquarium environments.

Synonyms: Bunodosoma californica.