The Tube Anemone scuba diving in Spain
The Tube Anemone are very nice and interesting animals to see, during your dives here Spain, on Costa del Sol.
Cerianthus membranaceus, also known as Tube Dwelling Anemone, Giant Cerianthus of the Sand, Large Mediterranean Tube Anemone or Burrowing Anemone.
The Tube Anemone is found in many locations: The Mediterranean Sea, Bay of Biscay north of Spain, off the coast of Liberia in Africa, and Papua New Guinea. They are most populated in waters where the plankton is very dense, like here in Andalusia where Black Frog Divers are based. They are a solitary animals.They tolerate a wide temperature range and controlled lighting. They can reach up to 20 cm across where their tentacles can reach 30.5 cm or more. It has a long, soft, cylindrical body with a pointed foot on one end and topped with a crown of tentacles on the other end. It uses its foot to burrow deep into a sandy or muddy sea bottom, leaving only the oral disc and tentacles exposed. It constructs a hard tube to live in, by releasing threads and mucus which become a fibrous structure with stinging cells.
that help protect it from the attack.
When it is frightened it can instantly hide into the tube. The Tube Anemone has a crown of more than 200 tentacles, and a mouth in the center. One type of tentacles is long in several rows around the the oral disc, those are used in food capture and defense. The second type is shorter placed over the mouth those are used to juggle food. Both sets of tentacles are of similar color. Tube Anemones use tentacles to startle fish, which keep the fish away from biting them. They take food in and oust waste through its mouth.This anemone comes in many different fluorescent combinations of colors: purples, violet, blue, green, pink, yellow, white, brown and orange. It’s amazing coloration is all natural.
It is unknown how long they live.
The Tube Anemone are very nice and interesting animals to see, during our dives here in Spain on the Costa del Sol, we do see them always. Even thou they are solitary animals, we see many of them in during one scuba dive. If you would like to see them live and take a great photo just send us an email.