63 — Brooding anemone, Handactis nutrix

Handactis nutrix, Mt. Maunganui, 2015.

Handactis nutrix, Mt. Maunganui, 2015.

Handactis nutrix, Mt. Maunganui, 2015.

The brooding anemone Handactis nutrix (Stuckey, 1909) is so named due its ability to shelter juvenile anemones in a fold around its base. It is found throughout New Zealand and southern Australia, at and around low tide on brown seaweeds (particularly Cystophora, Xiphophora, and Carpophyllum). All of the anemones pictured below are attached to Carpophyllum maschalocarpum (Turner) Greville 1830.

When they are disturbed brooding anemones exude long white threads (called acontia), which are filled with stinging cells and used to deter would-be attackers.

Fishes seem to be the main predators of brooding anemones, including snapper, yellow-bellied flounder, tarakihi, and blue cod. However, Morton & Miller (1968) reported that a small sea slug Baeolidia australis (Rudman, 1982) also feeds on this anemone. Apparently, this slug is only found in northern NZ, so it seems that fishes could be the anemone’s main predator throughout the rest of its range.








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More pictures of the brooding anemone