Urticina piscivora

Urticina piscivora
Urticina piscivora at the Vancouver Aquarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Anthozoa
Subclass:	Hexacorallia
Order:	Actiniaria
Family:	Actiniidae
Genus:	Urticina
Species:	U. piscivora
Binomial name
Urticina piscivora (Sebens & Laakso, 1978)
Synonyms
Tealia piscivora

Tealia piscivora

Urticina piscivora, common names flesh-eating anemone and blood sucking urticina, is a northeast Pacific species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae.

Urticina piscivora is a large anemone, growing to a maximum height of around 20 cm (8 in) and 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. The column is bright red in colour. The acontia is absent, but it has tubercles. These are not white and are arranged in circumferential rows. Normally they do not accumulate debris such as shells and sand.

This species may be confused with Urticina crassicornis. Although they may both have a red column, the tentacles of U. crassicornis normally have transverse bands, and olive green blotches are commonly found on the column.

This species occurs from [Alaska]in the north, down to La Jolla, California in the south.>

Urticina piscivora is almost always found in the subtidal zone. It attaches itself to rocky prominences in locations with a substantial current flowing past.

As its name suggests, this species is capable of capturing and consuming small pieces of human skin and teeth. However, Oxylebius pictus (the painted greenling) and Lebbeus grandimanus (candy stripe shrimp) have the ability to remain among the tentacles without being harmed.

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Wikipedia