White Striped Anemone (Sea Anemones of New Zealand)

White Striped Anemone

Anthothoe albocincta

Description ⁴

Common small anemone.
Habitat
Under wharf piles, in rock pools, on open surfaces of rocks and reefs.

Column
Smooth brown or orange column, with white or pale green stripes from top to bottom. Can emit white stinging threads from small holes on side of column. 10 to 20mm high.

Oral disc
Flat, orange (or green according to http://australianmuseum.net.au), slightly larger in diameter than column, 15 to 20mm diameter. Mouth white.

Tentacles
4 whorls of short pale tentacles.

Distribution
Endemic, throughout NZ.

Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 11, 1878, p308
Art. XXXII.—The Sea Anemones of New Zealand.
By Prof. Hutton.. :

Of the genus: All the tentacles simple. Column pierced with loop-holes.
Disc imperfectly retractile; column smooth, without suckers, perforated by a few large loop-holes.

Column cylindrical, broader than high; yellowish-orange, vertically striped with yellowish-green, each band having a central line of darker green. Disc circular; reddish orange or brick red, radially streaked with darker; margin not beaded; mouth elevated, round; throat ribbed. Tentacles in four indistinct rows round the disc, short, about half the diameter of the disc, conical with blunt points, and often much swollen at the base. Their colour is opaque white. Diameter, about 7 to 10mm.

Common in rock-pools near Dunedin. Sometimes the column is vertically streaked with red and white.

Edited version of Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 41, 1908, p370
Art. XXXV.—On Two Anemones found in the Neighbourhood of Wellington—Leiotealia thompsoni and Sagartia albocincta.
By F. G. A. Stuckey, M.A. :

Pedal-disc.—This only slightly exceeds the breadth of the column, and is about equal to the height. It is strongly adherent, and the animal can hardly be removed without damage.

Column.—The shape is cylindrical. The colour is deposited in alternating vertical stripes, pink and white, pellucid brown and white, brown and yellow, or green and yellow. The upper part often assumes an orange, the lower a greenish tinge. In full expansion the body-wall is semi-transparent. The wall is pierced by a number of irregularly arranged cinclides, which are easily made out in a fresh specimen. They have thickened margins.

Tentacles.—These are all opaque, white, and rather fine. They are regularly arranged in four whorls, 12 + 12 + 24 + 48. They can be wholly retracted, though the favourite position of the animal when not distended is one in which the tentacles are partially withdrawn, the tips forming a white central mass. In shape the tentacles are conical and pointed.

Oral Disc.—The disc is bright orange in colour, with radial markings. The mouth is set on a peristome.

Œsophagus.—The œsophagus is dull white, with brighter vertical lines.

Acontia are emitted through the mouth and through the cinclides already mentioned. Some specimens emit the acontia much more reluctantly than others.

Dimensions.—Height, 10–12 mm.; and diameter, 7–10 mm.

Habits and Locality.—This anemone is found on rocks, stones, and the roots of seaweed. It is very firmly attached, and can only be removed with difficulty. It opens freely in captivity. It is common in the neighbourhood of Wellington, and is also recorded from Lyttelton. Hutton's original specimens were found at Dunedin.