Biodiversity & Conservation

A sea anemone - Edwardsia timida

A sea anemone

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Distribution map

Edwardsia timida recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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  • UK_BAP
Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Cnidaria Sea anemones, corals, sea firs & jellyfish
Class Hexacorallia
Authority de Quatrefages, 1842
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland North-east Ireland, the Isle of Man and north-west Scotland. Rarely recently recorded.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Burrows in sand or gravel from lower shore to shallow sublittoral.
Text page icon Description A burrowing anemone, similar to Edwardsia claparedii but with a column generally more slender, up to 70mm long and 5mm in diameter. The tentacles are long and translucent orange-pink in colour, occasionally buff. It has 20-28 tentacles usually but up to 36 have been recorded. The column is streaked or spotted with white.
Identifying features
  • Column slender, lacks rows of tubercles.
  • Physa with cinclides.
  • Tentacles 16-36, arranged in three cycles, always with four in the primary cycle, these are stouter and sometimes shorter than the other tentacles.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Emily Wilson 2007. Edwardsia timida. 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 09/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3241>