The Giant Anemone is probably one of the most iconic coral reef creatures, especially in wake of the Finding Nemo movie, with beautiful little Clown Fish swimming through its tentacles. In the Caribbean there are no Clown Fish, but there are anemones, and the Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) is the largest of these. Its tentacles often have pink tips, and can be found growing both in reef crevices or directly on rocks out in the open. It is not colonial in nature like many of its Cnidarian relatives, instead living a solitary nature. In essence it is one giant polyp, very similar in many ways to its coral cousins. Like them, it has nematocyst cells in its tentacles that fire harpoon-like stingers if touched. Although not usually noticeable to humans, this sting is used to capture prey that the anemone then steers into its centrally-located mouth ready for a nasty meal. This prey usually consists of small fish, shrimp, worms and zooplankton. For a nice synopsis of this beautiful reef creature, see this Wikipedia article.
If you would like to see the original underwater photograph that is the inspiration behind this image then see here!!
About Reef Creature Clothing
We specialise in not only coral reef inspired athleisure wear, but also beach & swim wear, and other printed products. All our colourful and vibrant designs are made using digitally enhanced prints of real underwater photographs taken in the Caribbean. We donate all of our profits after costs to The Coral Reef Research Hub, a small non-profit organisation that seeks to help fund research projects undertaken by early career coral reef scientists. The projects funded are those that aim to contribute information that will hopefully lead to legislative change, and thus help to protect coral reefs and their associated resources for generations to come!
We write these regular ‘creature features’ to help you learn more about the fascinating inhabitants of the coral reefs where our images came from. More will continue to be posted over the coming months so watch this space!