anemone Stomphia selaginella

Stomphia selaginella is found in Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Georgia Island, and Shag Rocks at depths from 9 to 1,674 meters [2,3,5]. S. selaginella is found in McMurdo Sound's third benthic faunal zone below 33 meters depth [1]. Specimens of S. selaginella have been measured up to ten centimeters high and six centimeters in diameter; the pedal (foot) disc diameter a bit less than length [2,3].



The skin of Stomphia selaginella is colored pinkish- brown or reddish-brown [3]. S. selaginella tentacles can number from 48 to 80 with most specimens having 64 - 68 [2,3,4].

Here S. selaginella is situated above what looks like a Tritoniella belli egg mass.



A nipple-like prolongation in the center of the pedal disc (cannot see it here) of Stomphia selaginella suggests an ability to swim as do other Stomphia species [3]. Stomphia species swim by flexing their column, typically after contact by predators, and their pedal disc forms a narrow cone during swimming [3].



Stomphia selaginella females brood their young internally [3].

Young S. selaginella have oral disc diameters of three to six millimeters with their pedal disc shaped into a cone [3].

1: Antarctic Ecology, Volume 1. MW Holdgate, ed. NY: Academic Press, 1970. pp.244-258; 2: Soviet Journal of Marine Biology 1(5):307-315, 1975; 3: More Antarctic and Subantarctic Sea Anemones (Coelenterata: Corallimorpharia and Actiniaria). DG Fautin. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 1984. Biology of the Antarctic Seas 16. Antarctic Research Series 41(Paper 1):1-42; 4: Actiniaria. O Carlgren and TA Stephenson. Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914, Scientific Reports. Series C, Zoology and Botany. Volume 9, Part 2. Sydney : David Harold Paisley, Government Printer, 1929; 5: A Survey of the Ptychodactiaria, Corallimorpharia and Actiniaria. O. Carlgren. Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, 1949. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, 4th Series, Band 1, No. 1

Identification from photo only and not from collected specimen. Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Peter Brueggeman & Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Peter Brueggeman & Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?