Lit up Anemone?

[Steve_C]

In NC on the bottom it is not unusual to see tube dwelling anemones. In particular we see a number of nice ones like the Lavender Tube Dwelling Anemone. See the picture below. Not saying it is a Lavender just that it is very similar. On Saturday at 80 ft in clear water but with lots of clouds everything was subdued. I looked about 6 ft to my right and I saw a small object glowing bright yellow and charteus (maybe carmen red). I swam over and looked and it was a small tube dwelling anemone but it was glowing very brightly. The outer parts of every arm was bright with a reddish and some yellow color. The inner "mouth" was glowing brightly with a deep yellow color. It was if it was made up of fiber optic cables. I have over 100 dives in NC coastal waters and I have never seen anything close to this. In fact I have never seen an anemone that was lit up at all much less this brightly.
I took a picture. Second one below. The picture used a flash (should have thought to shoot in natural light). You can see some of the yellow on the inner mouth. Note the tips of the outer tenacles are a lighter color than in the anemone to the left. That is where the bright light was coming from.

What it this? A different species? A different life phase? I described it to the DM on the boat and he said that they were seeing a few of them this year for the first time.

 

[Nick A]

Where were these at? Ive seen some at the indra that were brightly colored tips but not glowing, they also had some blueish lavender on the tentacles. Could just be a color variation of a tube anemone.

 

[Steve_C]

Where were these at? Ive seen some at the indra that were brightly colored tips but not glowing, they also had some blueish lavender on the tentacles. Could just be a color variation of a tube anemone.

The other one I have seen several places. That photo was taken on the Liberty Ship off Wrightsville beach. The new one the photo was taken near the Hyde again out of Wrightsville. This was clearly glowing. But it was somewhat low light conditions. So maybe it is a behavior that they can turn on or off.

There are several kinds of tube dwelling anemones according to Reef Creature ID. Also according to that book there is a lot not known about all the species and version of each species.

 

[Nick A]

That's really cool. I wonder if it has some type if bioluminescence mechanism like jelly fish?

 

[Quero]

Many sea anemones have fluorescent proteins in their tissues, and there's a fair amount of research concerning the use of these proteins for biomedical applications. The Cerianthus tube anemone, like the anemone in your pictures, is known to emit orange fluorescent proteins. Light conditions are important in being able to see and photograph the effects.

 

[KeithG]

Your first picture looks like a giant tube dwelling anemone.

 

[mtngoat2674]

Bioluminescence is prevalent in many tube anemone species, as well as is fluorescence. According to researchers, certain tube anemones can activate bioluminescence in their tentacles to lure prey. Tube anemones are some of my favorite creatures. Nice photos.

It does bear noting though, that tube anemones are only distantly related to sea anemones, and belong to an entirely separate subclass.

 

[Steve_C]

This is great information.

The tip area of the lit one was fatter than the tip area of the other one. So the question is whether they were the same species and the thickness was a biproduct of the bioluminescence or if they are two different species?

Does anybody know of a more thorough listing with photos of east coast tube dwelling anemones? Reef creature seems a bit incomplete in that regard.

 

[Quero]

Sorry, can't help with references. But just looking at your two photos, they look pretty similar.

Not only anemones (of all sorts), but also their cousin cnidaria such as corals and even jellyfish are known to produce bioluminescence (light emitted from chemical reactions within the animal, a process that can occur in total darkness) and fluorescence (light re-emitted after exposure to an external light source, a process which cannot occur in total darkness). It's my understanding that fluorescence is more common, but perhaps less noticeable since the lighting conditions have to be just right in order to see it. Fluorescence seems to like blue light, and in reef aquaria, the use of actinic lights is common to enhance the glow of different animals in the tank. Your low-light dive might have been critical to you seeing the glow, particularly since when you exposed the animal to the light from flash photography, the effect was lost. There's a whole growing interest in observing and photographing marine animals under blue light, and there are even some threads here on SB about this. Do a search for the string "fluo" and you'll find some really striking images.

 

[Glowdiver]

Lots of anemone fluoresce brilliantly with blue to uv light. I think Quero is probably right. Light conditions were probably just perfect to observe this without special gear. Most of the pics you would find of fluorescence, are done with a blue or uv light or filter, and observed through a yellow filter of some sort. Some of the blue-blocker type yellow tinted masks will also make it more visible.