Biodiversity & Conservation

A sea anemone - Sagartia elegans

Sagartia elegans

Image Fiona Crouch - Sagartia elegans var. miniata at the Scilly Isles.
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Distribution map

Sagartia elegans 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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Sagartia elegans is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Cnidaria Sea anemones, corals, sea firs & jellyfish
Class Hexacorallia
Authority (Dalyell, 1848)
Recent synonyms Sagartia rhododactylus
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Common or locally abundant on all coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information This sea anemones found on shore in pools, under stones, caves and beneath overhangs, from the mid-tide level and below. This species is also common in the sublittoral down to approximately 50 m.
Text page icon Description Sagartia elegans is a very variable species (see additional information), all varieties have a base up to 30 mm and this is wider than the column and closely adherent. The column is moderately tall and flares out towards the disk. The upper part of the column is has numerous white suckers which appear as white spots and cinclides (small pores) just visible as dark spots. Acontia (white defence threads) are freely emitted from cinclides when the anemone disturbed. The tentacles are moderate to long and there are approximately 200 of them spanning about 4 cm. . This species is often found in large aggregations and may live with their bases inside a hole in the substratum into which they retract into when disturbed. The colour of the column is variable; red, orange, brown whitish or greenish.
Identifying features
  • Base up to 30 mm in diameter.
  • Base wider than the column and strongly adherent.
  • Column moderately tall and flares out to disc.
  • Columns varies in colour: red, orange, brown, whitish or pale grey-green.
  • Numerous suckers appear as white spots on column.
  • Cinclides, (small pores) just visible as dark spots on upper part of column.
  • Tentacles moderately long and about 200 spanning 4 cm.
Additional information icon Additional information There are 5 different varieties of the species recognised on the basis of the colouration of the disc and tentacles.
  • Var. miniata - the colour of the disc is variable, often variegated in - orange, red, brown, cream, grey etc. The disc is always marked with a dark pattern. The tentacles are similar to the disc, always banded and may have longitudinal lines.
  • Var. rosea - the disc is variably coloured, plain or patterned as in miniata with the tentacles being pink, rose-red or magenta.
  • Var. aurantiaca - the disc is greyish, sometimes patterned and tentacles are a dull orange.
  • Var.venusta - the disc is a plain orange and the tentacles are white.
  • Var. nivea - disc and tentacles white.

This review can be cited as follows:

Frances Peckett 2009. Sagartia elegans. A sea anemone. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 26/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4286>