Phymanthus crucifer

{{Short description|Species of sea anemone}}

{{for|the anemone in the family Stichodactylidae|Heteractis aurora}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Epicystis crucifer (Beaded anemone).jpg

| taxon = Phymanthus crucifer

| authority = (Le Sueur, 1817)

| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}

• Actinia crucifera Le Sueur, 1817
• Cereus crucifer (Le Sueur, 1817)
• Epicystis crucifer (Le Sueur, 1817)
• Epicystis crucifera (Le Sueur, 1817)
• Epicystis osculifera (Le Sueur, 1817)
• Phimanthus crucifer
• Phymantes crucifer
• Phymanthus cruciferus
• Ragactis cruciata Andres, 1883

{{hidden end}}

| synonyms_ref = {{Cite web|url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=283712|title=WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Phymanthus crucifer (Le Sueur, 1817)|website=www.marinespecies.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-31}}

}}

Phymanthus crucifer, commonly known as rock flower anemone, flower anemone, red beaded anemone{{ITIS |taxon = Phymanthus crucifer |accessdate = 9 June 2010 |id=52794}}{{cite web|title=Phymanthus crucifer|url=http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bocas_database/search/species/6453|work=Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute|publisher=Smithsonian|accessdate=9 June 2010}} or the beaded anemone,{{cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Eugene H. |title=A Field Guide to Coral Reefs: Caribbean and Florida|series=Peterson Field Guide|volume=27|year=1999|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0-618-00211-1|editor=Roger Tory Peterson|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLYPWMoBkccC&q=Phymanthus+crucifer&pg=PA140-IA26}} is a species of sea anemone in the family Phymanthidae. It has been described as "closely similar" to Heteractis aurora in several ways, commonly exhibiting "tentacles with swollen cross-bars"{{cite journal|last=Hartog|first=J C den|title=Notes on the genus Amphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Teleostei: Pomacentridae) and its host sea anemones in the Seychelles|journal=Zoologische Mededelingen|year=1987|volume=61|pages=405–419|url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/150601|accessdate=9 June 2010}} bearing large clusters of stinging nematocysts. However, P. crucifer may also be found with smooth tentacles, sometimes in the immediate vicinity of a swollen-crossbarred specimen.

The disk, flat and edged with about 200 short tentacles, may grow to {{convert|15|cm}} across. The column, fully extended, may reach {{convert|15|to|20|cm}} in length with a diameter of {{convert|51|to|76|mm}} in large individuals; however, most individuals have only half this length and diameter. P. crucifer exhibits a high degree of colour variability, ranging from sandy or buff to dull green or even red. The base of the column is generally cream-coloured with streaks of red, greying towards the top. Rows of light and dark stripes and bumps radiate outward from the mouth, varying in colour from bright green in the centre to brown, lavender, yellow, or white going outwards. It has bright red suckers on its column, to which debris can attach for camouflage.

P. crucifer inhabits the sandy bottoms of the Caribbean Sea and can be found across the West Indies. The main part (column) of the anemone is usually buried in the sand, anchored to a rock below the surface, so that when disturbed the anemone can pull back into the substrate. Documented as a species often associated with coral reefs{{cite journal|last=Garese|first=Agustín |author2=Héctor M. Guzmán |author3=Fabián H. Acuña |title=Sea Anemones (Cnidaria: Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia) from Panama|journal=Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía |date=December 2009|volume=44|issue=3|pages=791–802|doi=10.4067/S0718-19572009000300025|url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-19572009000300025&script=sci_arttext|accessdate=9 June 2010|doi-access=free}} and rocky ledges, P. crucifer is able to withdraw into crevices and holes if agitated.{{cite book|last=Verrill|first=Addison Emery|title=The Bermuda Islands: Volume 1. Supplement to the second edition|series = Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences|date=April 1907|publisher=Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences|pages=229–230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oP4HAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=10 June 2010|location=New Haven, Connecticut}}

The reproductive cycle in this species has been observed to be prolonged (longer than annual or biannual), suggesting differences between the reproductive cycles of tropical sea anemones and those of cooler water anemones.{{cite journal|last=Lin|first=Ming-Doun |author2=Chaolun Allen Chen |author3=Lee-Sing Fang|title=Distribution and sexual reproduction of a seagrass-bed-inhabiting actiniarian, Phymanthus strandesi (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Phymanthidae), at Hsiao-Liuchiu Island, Taiwan|journal=Zoological Studies|year=2001|volume=40|issue=3|pages=254–261|url=http://www.sinica.edu.tw/zool/zoolstud/40.3/254.pdf|accessdate=9 June 2010}} P. crucifer can reproduce sexually, with the eggs developing into larvae inside the parent. P. crucifer is a dioecious species, having distinctly male and female individuals and large eggs.