Stichodactyla gigantea
Encyclopedia
Stichodactyla gigantea, commonly known as the giant carpet anemone is a species of sea anemone
that lives in the Indo-Pacific
area, with a diameter usually no larger than 50 centimetres (1.64 feet) and a maximum of 80 centimetres. It can be kept in an aquarium but is a very challenging species to keep alive and healthy for more than 3–5 years.
beds or sand flats around 8 centimetres deep (at low tide). Most anemones are treated as sessile, but the ones inhabited by anemonefish are in fact motile. Zooxanthellae are obligate symbionts within the anemone, and are associated as hosts to the common clownfish (A. ocellaris), Clark's anemonefish (A. clarkii), the pink skunk clownfish (A. perideraion), and occasionally with the domino damselfish (D. trimaculatus).
Sea anemone
Sea anemones are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria; they are named after the anemone, a terrestrial flower. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Zoantharia. Anthozoa often have large polyps that allow for digestion of larger...
that lives in the Indo-Pacific
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...
area, with a diameter usually no larger than 50 centimetres (1.64 feet) and a maximum of 80 centimetres. It can be kept in an aquarium but is a very challenging species to keep alive and healthy for more than 3–5 years.
Ecology
S. gigantea resides on shallow seagrassSeagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
beds or sand flats around 8 centimetres deep (at low tide). Most anemones are treated as sessile, but the ones inhabited by anemonefish are in fact motile. Zooxanthellae are obligate symbionts within the anemone, and are associated as hosts to the common clownfish (A. ocellaris), Clark's anemonefish (A. clarkii), the pink skunk clownfish (A. perideraion), and occasionally with the domino damselfish (D. trimaculatus).