Biodiversity & Conservation

A tube anemone - Cerianthus lloydii

Cerianthus lloydii

Image Jason Hall-Spencer - Cerianthus lloydii on sandy substrata in Loch Fyne, Scotland.
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Distribution map

Cerianthus lloydii recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Cerianthus lloydii is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Cnidaria Sea anemones, corals, sea firs & jellyfish
Class Hexacorallia
Authority Gosse, 1859
Recent synonyms Synarachnactis bournei.
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Recorded all around the coast of Britain, except on the east coast between the Tees estuary and The Wash. It may be locally abundant in some places.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Adults live permanently in tubes that are buried in sand, mud or gravel, from LWST to about 100 m depth.
Text page icon Description Cerianthus lloydii is a brownish, tube-dwelling anemone up to 15 cm long. The mouth and tentacles project above the surface of the sand from the soft tube, which can be up to 40 cm long and is permanently buried. There are about 70 long tapering tentacles that may be brown, green or white and are often banded with darker brown. These tentacles cannot be fully retracted and surround many smaller inner tentacles that obscure the mouth. However the animal can retract into its tube if disturbed.
Identifying features
  • A tube-dwelling anemone with a brownish body up to 15 cm long.
  • The mouth and tentacles project above the sand from the deeply buried tube.
  • Many short inner tentacles obscure the mouth. Disc surrounded by about 70 long tapering tentacles, which may be brown, green or white and are often banded with darker brown.
Additional information icon Additional information

This review can be cited as follows:

Penny Avant 2008. Cerianthus lloydii. A tube anemone. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 25/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=2930>