Anthozoa (sea anemones)

The Anthozoa includes the sea anemones and the corals. These species lack the medusa stage
altogether, and exist exclusively in the polyp form. Anthozoans tend to have more highly
developed contractile cells (cells capable of contracting) than other cnidarians, as well as a more
highly developed, thicker mesoglea, which often forms a fibrous connective tissue. Corals
secrete a hard, limy skeleton and can form huge reefs, such as the Great Barrier Reef off the
coast of Australia. Coral reefs are an impressive ecosystem, one of the most diverse and
productive on Earth.
Characteristics
Anthozoans are characterized by two anatomically related structures, the actinopharynx and the
mesenteries, which are unique among cnidarian polyps (Figure 1). The actinopharynx, or
stomodeum, is a tubular gullet extending from the mouth some distance into the coelenteron. The
actinopharynx of most species contains at least one histologically specialized, flagellated
longitudinal channel called a siphonoglyph that drives water into the coelenteron. In most sea
anemones and corals, two siphonoglyphs are situated diametrically opposite one another in the
actinopharynx. Siphonoglyphs and their associated structures impart a bilateral or biradial
symmetry to the polyp (e.g. Shick 1991).

Characteristics:
Unlike other cnidarians, the sea anemones and corals do not have a medusa stage in their life
cycle. Their eggs form larvae which attach to some surface and start developing a new animal or
colony. Each animal or polyp have a cylindrical body and one or more rings of tentacles around
the mouth. Some anthozoans have the ability of both sexual and asexual reproduction.
Taxonomy
The anthozoans are divided into two subclasses. The members of Hexacorallia, like sea
anemones, tube anemones and stony corals, have a sixfold radial symmetry. The number of
tentacles, for instance, often come in a plural of six. The other subclass, Octocorallia, include
species like soft corals and sea pens, with an eightfold symmetry.
Distribution
Anthozoans are found worldwide in all oceans.
Reproduction Process
Unlike other cnidarians, anthozoans do not have a medusa stage in their development, they live
exclusively as polyps throughout their life cycles. Instead, they release sperm and eggs that form
a planula, which attaches to some substrate on which the cnidarian grows. Some anthozoans can
also reproduce asexually through budding.

Anthozoan Anatomy
Species within the class Anthozoa include the corals and sea anemones. Most anthozoan species
exist exclusively in the polyp form and do not exhibit alternation of generations. As polyps, the
Anthozoa are primarily sessile. An example from the class Anthozoa is depicted in the Figure
below.

The anthozoan species, Acropora variabilis.

The coral head depicted in the Figure above is actually a colony made up of many small,
interconnected anthozoan polyps. These colonies form by asexual reproduction in which the
developing bud forms a polyp that remains attached to the parent. In addition to the hydrostatic
skeleton discussed above, several coral species secrete an exoskeleton. In these species, the
ectodermal cells at the base of the polyp secrete the cup-shaped exoskeleton called the calicle or
basal plate. The basal plate is made up of calcium. As the polyp grows, the calicle size increases
and, over time, becomes the major constituent of coral reefs.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Coral reefs (Anthozoans) serves as a habitat of fishes and this may also serve as a tourist
attraction to humans.

They also provide a home for algae which creates oxygen that we breathe. The coral reefs
are also important because the polyps, algae, and animals in that habitat are a major food
source for other animals.

Cnidaria - Anthozoa - Sea pens

The sea pen was named after the quill pen which it looks like. The sea pen
is not actually one animal, but rather consists of many separate animals
called polyps living in a colony. The polyps look look like miniature sea
anemones each with eight tentacles.

Quill pen

There are around 300 species of Sea Pens or Sea Pansies. They live at many
depths from shallow waters down to deep seas in tropical and temperate
waters worldwide. They prefer deeper waters where turbulence is less likely
to uproot them. Sea pens can have a chunky, more club-like appearance or
have a feather-like appearance.

Sea Pens share many features with Soft Corals. The biggest difference is in their habitat. While
Soft Corals will attach to hard substrates, the Sea Pens anchor themselves with their bulb-like
shape into deep soft bottoms like sand or mud.
They can also easily free themselves and move around. They position themselves favourably in
the path of currents meaning a steady flow of plankton, their main food. Their major predators
are nudibranchs and sea stars, some of which feed exclusively on sea pens.
During the daylight hours Sea Pens usually bury themselves into the sand, and come out at night
to capture plankton. Each colony is either male or female, though more are females. Colours
range from dark orange to yellow and white and are often bright. Many will bioluminesce in the
dark.
The exposed portion of sea pens may grow up to 2 metres in some species.

Cnidaria - Anthozoa - Corals

Coral is made by millions of tiny carnivorous animals

called polyps. The polyps are usually only a few
millimetres in diameter and live in groups called
colonies.. A polyp is very similar to a tiny anemone, and
consists of a stomach with a mouth at one end. The
mouth is surrounded by a number of tentacles with
nematocytes. They mostly feed at night.
Although the polyps are predators, most gain their Green Star polyps (soft coral)
energy from zooxanthellae ( a type of algae) which live
in the tissues of the polyps. The algae use sunlight and
the polyps waste products to make oxygen and food for
itself and the The algae need solar energy to survive, so

do not live in deeper water.

A polyp reproduces by dividing its own body to form

two polyps or by producing sperm and eggs. Just after
the full moon in November, eggs and sperm are released
from coral polyps and float about for a few days. A
small percentage of the eggs will be fertilized, hatch
into larvae, and settle on the reef to begin new colonies.
Colonies grow rapidly. One polyp can become a colony
of 25,000 polyps in 3 years.
There are two types of coral, hard coral and soft coral.
Hard corals (like brain coral and elkhorn coral) have Staghorn coral (hard coral)
hard, limestone (calcium carbonate ) skeletons which
form the basis of coral reefs. Soft corals (like sea fingers
and
sea
whips)
do
not
build
reefs.
Each polyp builds a case of limestone around itself,
using calcium minerals and carbon dioxide from the
water. This remains after it has died and forms a
foundation for another polyp to build a house on,
putting a floor on the roof of the old one. When these
limestone formations increase, they are called a coral
reef. The polyps are connected by a complex and well
developed system of gastrovascular canals which allow Mushroom coral
nutrients to be shared.
Image GBRMPA
Coral reefs are the largest structures created by any
group of animals in the world. They have existed on
earth for over 200 million years. They grow in shallow
(usually less than 60 metres), warm (18-33C), and clear
water usually near land and mostly in the tropics.
There are coral reefs off the eastern coast of Africa, off
the southern coast of India, in the Red Sea, and off the
coasts of northeast and northwest Australia and on to
Polynesia. There are also coral reefs off the coast of
Florida, USA, to the Caribbean, and down to Brazil.
Reefs are extremely diverse marine ecosystems hosting
over 4,000 species of fish, massive numbers of

cnidarians, molluscs, crustaceans, and many other

animals.
The Great Barrier Reef (off the coast of NE Australia) is
over 2,000 km long and is the largest coral reef in the
world.

Coral polyps

Soft corals

Arlington Reef, Great Barrier

Reef

Cnidaria - Anthozoa - Sea anemones

Sea anemones (scientific name: Actiniaria) are a major
group of the Cnidaria, named after the anemone, a
terrestrial flower. There are more than 1,000 species of
sea anemone found throughout the worlds oceans at
various depths, although the largest and most varied
occur in coastal tropical waters. They can be almost any
colour with most between 1.8 cm and 3 cm in diameter.
They can be as small as 4 mm or as large as almost 200
cm across with a few tens of tentacles to hundreds.
.A sea anemone is a polyp attached at the bottom to the Sea anemones
surface beneath it by an adhesive foot, called a pedal Image Juanjo Santamaria Flickr
disk, with a column shaped body ending in an oral disk.
The mouth is in the middle of the oral disk surrounded
by tentacles armed with many nematocysts for defense
and to capture prey.
A few species are free swimming and are not attached to
the bottom; instead they have a gas chamber within the

pedal disc, allowing them to float upside down in the

water.

Sea anemones are carnivores that eat fish, mussels,

zooplankton (like copepods, other small crustaceans,
and tiny marine larvae), and worms. Sea anemones have
few predators like some Sea slugs and some fish.
Some anemones have a symbiotic relationships with
green algae. In exchange for providing the algae safety
and access to sunlight, the anemone receives oxygen Structure of a sea anemone
and sugar, the products of the algae's photosynthesis.
Image from Life on Australian
Seashores
Sea anemones reproduce by lateral fission (in which an
identical animal sprouts out of the anemone's side) and
by sexual reproduction (in which anemones release eggs
and sperm, producing free-swimming larvae).