a tribute to jewel anemones

underwater photos of jewel anemones Corynactis haddoni

by Dr J Floor Anthoni (2007)
www.seafriends.org.nz/images/jewel.htm
The modest jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni) may well be one of the most interesting animal species as it exhibits a high degree of colour variability. Colour variation in animals is uncommon, as most have but one costume, even though it may change from its juvenile into its adult form. Most adult animals exhibit the same colours and patterns within a single species. For flowers this can be different as some species exist in various colours, but even here, colour variation in natural flowers (not hybridised or cultivated)  is uncommon for most plant species. Some fish species display colour variation within a species, and few can even change colour at will, such as the spectacular goatfish (Upeneichthys lineatus) and many triplefins in New Zealand.
Like other anemones, the jewel anemone can reproduce asexually by splitting, which leads to clusters of identically coloured clones, and these patches join up to amazing quilt works of gaudy colours. The jewel anemone does not have long thinning tentacles but short ones, ending in knobs. The animals are also stubby and short and able to live in the wildest of waters. They are usually found underneath rocky overhangs or on vertical walls where a diver's torch is needed to reveal their stunning beauty.
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Keywords: jewel, anemone, jewel anemone, corynactis, Corynactis haddoni, NZ, New Zealand, underwater, sea, ocean, environment, 

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-- Seafriends home -- images -- Rev 20070122,


Variable jewel anemones
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f049022: a patchwork quilt of jewel anemones on a rocky pinnacle, living in the darkness of a foam umbrella (Cavalli Islands, Northland).
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f049016: jewel anemones are found in shallow wild water, on vertical rock walls or underneath overhangs. Taking macro photos in these conditions is daunting.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f027026: where conditions are favourable, jewel anemones can reach astounding densitites (Dunedin, South Island).
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f035310: a very dense patch in an archway. All these anemones are clones of a single individual (Kapiti Island, Wellington).

 
We believe that the magenta jewel anemone could well be a separate species because:
  1. it occurs only in one colour: a magenta column with white tentacles.
  2. it extends far out by night, which C. haddoni does not do.
  3. it prefers round objects like coral trees and wreck railings.

 
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f049833: variable jewel anemones on the wide beams of the bow sprit of the Rainbow Warrior wreck.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f021816: magenta jewel anemones covering a deceased black coral tree.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f021319: magenta jewel anemones wrapped around a railing of the Rainbow Warrior wreck.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f021315: detail of the magenta anemones on the railing.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f035301: a dense carpet of magenta jewel anemones in an archway.
jewel anemone (Corynactis haddoni)
f035305: by night the magenta jewel anemone can extend its column many times its daytime height.

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