Giant Sea Anemone
Condylactis gigantea

f16 @ 1/60s, ASA:64, Ektachrome 64 slide film, Nikonos II w 28mm and Nikon close up lens, Oceanic flash

\"Condylactis gigantea,\" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Condylactis gigantea is a tropical species of ball anemone that is found in shallow reefs and other shallow inshore areas in the Caribbean Sea – more specifically the West Indies – and the western Atlantic Ocean including southern Florida through the Florida Keys. It is also commonly known as: giant Caribbean sea anemone, giant golden anemone, condylactis anemone, Haitian anemone, pink-tipped anemone, purple-tipped anemone, and Florida condy. This species can easily be seen growing in lagoons or in inner reefs as either individuals or loose groups, but never as colonies. They are often used as a model organism along with others in their genus for facultative symbiosis with monocellular algae. The giant Caribbean sea anemone is usually found in the crevices of rock walls, attached to a rock, shell, or almost any other hard object in shallow water that experiences full–strength seawater most of the time, which may explain why the species is so common in Bermuda. Giant Caribbean sea anemones are also very common around reefs in both “forereef” and lagoon areas. It can also be found at most inshore areas, on coral reefs, though this is less common. Sea anemones in general can be found anywhere from the intertidal zone all the way to a depth of 30,000 feet.

Salt River Canyon, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

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