Anemone table

This table will provide a quick run-down of all 42 species of anemone that have been recorded from rockpools across the UK, and show you which are the most common. For this table we have used records from iNaturalist.

The anemones are some of the first species we all find and learn to identify in rockpools in the UK. They are plentiful along our coastlines, injecting splashes of colour across the UK intertidal zone. This guide includes 4 orders of anemones, which are all in the class Hexacoriallia. This class is part of Cnidaria which means they possess stinging cells for defense and feeding.

• Ceriantharia
  • The tube anemones which live in a parchment like tube buried in the sand.
    
    
• Zoantharia
  • The colonial anemones, these consisist of a number of polyps growing from an encrusting lump of gelatinous tissue which is attached to the rock and stones, and often covered in and, bryzoan or hydroid ‘turfs’
    
    
• Actinaiara
  • The sea anemones, this includes beadlet and strawberry anemones, and comprises the majority of anemone species found in the UK, especially at shallow depths.
    
    
• Corallimporharia
  • The knobbed tentacled anemones. The only species in this order in the UK is the jewel anemone. They are effectively corals without a hard skeleton.
    
    

All anemones are based on a similar structure- a polyp, which can be single or colonial. This is comprised of a hollow cylindrical body known as a column. This can connect to the soft tissues of other polyps, hard surfaces with a basal disk, live in a tube, or be rounded and bury into soft sediments.

The upper end of the column flattens into an oral disk, which has a slit-like mouth in the centre, and is surrounded by a number tentacles. Anemones are filter feeders, with a flattened tube leading from the mouth to an internal body cavity for ingestion. This tube is also used to direct a current of water through the body for respiration and to inflate or deflate the polyp. Many anemones can contract their tentacles and oral disk into this body cavity for protection and water retention. Anemones may retract when threatened, non-submerged or when there is little passing current making feeding success low. Some however, like the snakelocks, cannot do this.

All photos are clickable to view photo ownership.

Check below the table for more information on our data sources

Photo	Common Name	Latin Name	Number of Observations
	Atlantic Beadlet Anemone	Actinia equina	5415
	snakelocks anemone	Anemonia viridis	2436
	Strawberry Anemone	Actinia fragacea	1240
	Gem Anemone	Bunodactis verrucosa	555
	Dahlia Anemone	Urticina felina	429
	Daisy Anemone	Cereus pedunculatus	330
	Plumose Anemone	Metridium senile	116
	Elegant anemone	Cylista elegans	96
	Jewel Anemone	Corynactis viridis	58
	Pimplet Anemone	Anthopleura ballii	37
	NA	Cylista troglodytes	37
	Couch’s Trumpet Anemone	Aiptasia couchii	31
	Sandalled Anemone	Actinothoe sphyrodeta	29
	Sealoch anemone	Protanthea simplex	24
	Fireworks anemone	Pachycerianthus multiplicatus	21
	Yellow Cluster Anemone	Parazoanthus axinellae	19
	White cluster anemone	Parazoanthus anguicomus	19
	Parasitic Anemone	Calliactis parasitica	17
	Imperial anemone	Capnea sanguinea	17
	NA	Sagartia undata	16
	Sandy creeplet	Epizoanthus couchii	15
	Clock face anemone	Peachia cylindrica	14
	NA	Hormathia coronata	13
	Horseman anemone	Urticina eques	11
	Olive-green wart anemone	Phellia gausapata	11
	Cloak anemone	Calliactis palliata	10
	NA	Edwardsia claparedii	7
	Striped Green Sea Anemone	Diadumene lineata	6
	Fountain anemone	Sagartiogeton laceratus	5
	Ginger anemone	Isozoanthus sulcatus	4
	Deeplet Anemone	Bolocera tuediae	3
	Policeman anemone	Mesacmaea mitchelli	3
	Glaucous pimplet	Anthopleura thallia	3
	Burrowing sea anemone	Edwardsiella carnea	3
	NA	Anemonactis mazeli	2
	Brown Anemone	Metridium dianthus	1
	Swimming Anemone	Stomphia coccinea	1
	NA	Gonactinia prolifera	1
	NA	Cribrinopsis crassa	1
	NA	Scolanthus callimorphus	1
	Sea fan anemone	Amphianthus dohrnii	1
	Rooted Anemone	Cylista ornata	1

Why only iNaturalist data? Though the National Biodiversity Newtwork (NBN) has records going back further, anenomes are a very commonly recorded and verified group on iNaturalust. As such, we feel the iNaturalist data gives sufficient coverage of species over the UK to use for this.

Please note, numbers of each species recorded etc. will change from date of publication.