Tube-dwelling Anemone

ID points

• Lives in a long soft tube of its own making
• Two rings of tentacles: a long outer ring and a short inner ring
• Withdraws into the tube instantly when startled

Basics

Family

Cerianthidae

Length

20–40 cm

Depth

1-200 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs · Caribbean & W. Atlantic · Open ocean

Distribution

Sand and mud bottoms in all oceans

Diet

Zooplankton

Easily confused with

Blue StarfishEntirely saturated cobalt blue, with no other markingsFeather StarMany feathery arms spread out into the currentGiant ClamTwo heavy wavy shell edges clamped tight onto the reef

Fun fact

It lives inside a tube it builds from its own secreted mucus, and can pull its entire body back down in a fraction of a second. The tube can run tens of centimetres deep.