Caribbean sea anemone - Chris Kurtz

The Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) is under the phylum of Cnidarian and is commonly found throughout shallow reefs in the West Indies attaching itself in rocky crevices. Typically, these anemones reach sizes of 15 cm high and a disk diameter of 40 cm. This anemone has long brownish tentacles with purple tips, although they can vary in color as some may be purely purple. 

These free-floating tentacles are used for defense and capturing prey, as they have cnidocytes that help stun prey with their paralyzing toxins. Their diet includes anything from smaller juvenile fish to shrimp. An exception to this is a symbiosis these anemones share with cleaner shrimps. They may also use these cnidocytes on other anemones when competing for space. When this occurs an advantage anemones have is their mobility, as they’re able to move about the ocean floor to find areas of reduced competition.  The giant Caribbean sea anemone is, in most cases, dioecious but in rare cases hermaphroditic specimens have been observed.