Strawberry sea anemones in deep water on the MFV Orotava

A firm favourite (especially with little girls) at the microscope display at the Two Oceans Aquarium, strawberry sea anemones are small (about 1 centimetre in diameter), bright pink, and have white knobs on the tip of their tentacles. They look magnificent under magnification. They are colonial, and while Two Oceans says that they are found on “shallow reefs”, the shallowest I have ever seen them is in about 10 metres of water on the Clan Stuart.

They are prolific on the deeper wrecks in Smitswinkel Bay, as well as on the SAS Pietermaritzburg and even on the SAS Fleur, which lies in over 4o metres of water. They are found on both sides of the peninsula – some of these pictures were taken on the MV Aster.

No flash - strawberry sea anemones display their flourescent powers

They have a flourescent ring around their tentacles which is clearly visible without a torch on deep dives. I tried to keep the camera still for the photo above (taken on the MFV Orotava in Smitswinkel Bay), but it’s not quite crisp. The flourescent pink rings, however, are clearly visible. There are some pictures here that show how these creatures actually glow under blue light, which I assume attracts their prey (believed to be small planktonic creatures) to them.

Closed up strawberry sea anemones on the MV Aster

They are more closely related to soft corals than to other sea anemones, and are usually very reluctant to eat any artemia when on display at the microscope. Their tentacles are hardly seen to move, and in fact I’ve only once encountered them closed up – I think because they were disturbed by another diver.

Closed up strawberry sea anemones on the MV Aster