Anemomes are a numerous group of marine creatures with diverse appearances and lifestyles from tropical shallows to bone chilling ocean abyss. Aside from a few species, mostly of the clownfish-hosting variety, the reef aquarium world is very poor in their knowledge and appreciation of Actinaria.
A new guide from the NIWA Invertebrate Collection highlights some unique shallow water species from New Zealand and this group includes a number of species that any aquarists would love to keep and grow. This free digital publication is called Adorable Anemones and covers mostly cold water species, but the red-striped anemone, Epiactis thompsoni, and the jewel anemone, Corynactis australis, are certainly two eye catchers.
The Corynactis jewel anemone is not even an anemone, but an corallimorph related to Ricordea with long tentacles like an anemone that comes in a wide variety of awesome colors. Although we may not have access to these highly exotic species, the Adorable Anemones guide is a great resource to learn about interesting anemone species that we almost never see. [NIWA]
