Diet

• Actinostella bradleyi is a cnidarian that captures small marine organisms with its stinging cells (nematocysts).

• Like other members of Actinostella, it also contains zooxanthellae, symbiotic algae that provide nutrients through photosynthesis.

Range

• Actinostella bradleyi occurs along the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific coast.

• Its range includes the Pacific coast of Mexico, the Gulf of California, Panama and El Salvador.

Habitat

• It is a shallow-water sea anemone associated with rocky coastal and intertidal habitats.

• Specimens have been recorded at depths of approximately 1 m in El Salvador.

• It attaches its well-developed pedal disc to a firm substrate and can occur in areas exposed to changing tidal conditions.

Description

• The body is columnar, with a well-developed basal pedal disc used for attachment.

• The column bears numerous longitudinal rows of small verrucae, with up to 96 rows in the distal portion.

• A distinctive marginal ruff surrounds the upper portion of the column and bears rows of vesicles.

• The oral disc can reach about 34 mm in diameter, while the column can reach approximately 55 mm in height and 42 mm in diameter.

• It can possess up to 96 simple, smooth tentacles arranged in as many as five cycles.

• The tentacles may reach approximately 18 mm in length and are generally similar in size.

• Living specimens recorded from El Salvador have been described with a dark red oral disc, whitish spots near the bases of the innermost tentacles, and a brown marginal ruff with dark green or olive vesicles.