Common Name: Orange anemone

Synonyms and Other Names:

Identification: Diadumene cincta is a small, slender anemone up to 35 mm in height, usually orange in colour. It has up to 200 tentacles on the oral disc which are also orange in colour but paler than the column. The surface of the column is smooth and is dotted with irregularly spaced pores (called cinclides) that serve to release water from the body cavities when the anemone contracts. When contracted, the body appears distorted and the parapet, a fold of tissue surrounding the tentacle-bearing part of the body (the capitulum), is distinct. When Diadumene cincta extends, the parapet folds out and becomes indistinct. If disturbed, this anemone extrudes stinging cell-bearing tentacles called acontia through the mouth to deter attackers.

• Elongate orange column, almost vermiform when fully extended.
• Parapet and fosse (a groove between the parapet and capitulum) indistinct when extended, become distinct upon contraction.
• Contraction of column asymmetrical, acontia released fairly readily.
• Cinclides present on column.
• Up to 200 long slender tentacles on oral disc, irregularly arranged.

Source: (Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland 2005)

Size: 35 mm in height

Native Range: Great Britain (Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland 2005; GBIF 2005)

This map only depicts Great Lakes introductions. Click here for Great Lakes region collection information

Great Lakes Impacts:

References (click for full reference list)

Other Resources:

Author: Fuller, P.

Contributing Agencies:

Revision Date: 8/5/2005

This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the information.