Strawberry anemones (Corynactis californica), sometimes called club-tipped anemones, are more closely related to stony corals, although they lack a stony skeleton, than they are to true sea anemones, like the giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica). Growing in dense colonies where they are found, strawberry anemones can often resemble fields of delicate flowers.
The individual polyps usually reach no more than 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in height or diameter. They can reproduce asexually, by fission, or sexually. Seeming to prefer the asexual method results in the large patches of what are likely clones. Where the edges of two colonies come together, anemone warfare can result, creating border areas that a free of any anemones.
Like all anemones, they have a single opening in the tentacle-surrounded disk that serves to both take in food, and dispose of waste. The bulbous tips on the tentacles make them fairly easy to identify beyond the fact they occur in large numbers where found.
Today’s photo clearly highlights the bulbous tips of the tentacles, but also the delicate color and flower-like aspect of these beautiful anemones.
This photo was taken with a Canon EF100 mm f/2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mk. III in an Ikelite underwater housing. Light was provided by an Ikelite DS-161 strobe in eTTL mode. The exposure was set to 1/45 sec. at f/9.5 and ISO 200.