Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone, Condylactis gigantea

Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone, Condylactis gigantea. Underwater photographs taken in coastal waters off Puerto Morales. Underwater photographs taken in coastal waters of Puerto Morales, Quintana Roo, April 2016. Photographs and identification courtesy of Juan Rojo, Akumal.

Phylogeny:  The Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone, Condylactis gigantea (Weinland, 1860) is a member of the Actiniidae Family of True Sea Anemones. The genus Condylactis is one of seventy-two genera in this family, and there are five species in this genus. This species is also known as the Pink Tip Sea Anemone, the Purple Tip Sea Anemone, and the Condy Anemone.

Morphology:  Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones have a relatively large column, and a disk that is surrounded by 100 or more tentacles. The tentacles are long and tapering. The tentacles may be tipped with pink, scarlet, purple, green, or blue coloration. The column and disk may be white, pale blue, pink, orange or tan in color. As the specific and common names suggest, this is a very large anemone, having a maximum disk diameter of 40 cm (16 inches).

Habitat and Distribution: Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones are found attached to hard surfaces on reefs, and in lagoons and turtle grass beds. They live subtidally, to a depth of 30 m (98 feet). This species is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Tropical Western Atlantic. In Mexican waters they range from Veracruz to Belize.

Diet: Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones use their nematocyst-tipped tentacles to capture prey. They are macrophagus carnivores, able to swallow large prey. They eat fish, shrimp, zooplankton, and sea worms. Some sources state that they also eat bivalves and sea urchins, but they fail to disclose how the anemone captures such prey. Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones are zooxanthellate, meaning that they have a symbiotic relationship with single-cell dinoflagellates, known as zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae live within certain Coral Polyps, Sea Anemones, Jellyfish, and Nudibranchs. The zooxanthellae produce energy, during daylight, by means of photosynthesis. This energy is passed along to their hosts, sometimes providing up to 90% of the host’s total energy needs. In return, the host provides nutrients, carbon dioxide, and a secure, sunlit, platform for the zooxanthellae.

Predators:  Despite their nematocyst-tipped tentacles, Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones are prey for crabs, hermit crabs, nudibranchs, and fish.

Reproduction: Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones have the rare ability to be either gonochoric (male or female for life) or simultaneously hermaphroditic (possessing reproductive organs of both male and female). Reproduction is sexual, through broadcast spawning, with external fertilization. The fertile eggs become planular larva until they settle to the bottom to begin benthic life.

Ecosystem Interactions: In addition to the Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone’s symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae dinoflagelates, they also have symbiotic relationships with the Arrow Crab, Stenorynchus steicornis, the Symbiotic Cleaner Shrimp, Periclimenes anthophilus,  and some wrasses of the genus Apogon. These species hide in the anemone’s tentacles, where they are protected from predators. In turn, these species may lure other small prey to the anemone for food.

Human Interactions: Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical industries because their neurofilament proteins are similar to those of mammals’ neurons. This allows them to be used in nervous system research. Additionally, sea anemone toxins have potential to be used to treat cardiac diseases. This species is also collected by the aquarium industry. From a conservation perspective the Giant Caribbean Sea Anemones has not been evaluated though they are common with a wide range and should be considered of Least Concern.

Synonyms: Anthea gigantean, Bunodes passiflora, Condylactis giganthea, Condylactis gigantean, Condylactis passiflora, and Ilyanthopsis longifilis.