PHYLUM: Cnidaria
CLASS: Anthozoa
SPECIES: Corynactis californica
COMMON NAME: Strawberry Anemone
Although it's commonly called an anemone, Corynactis is actually a corallimorph. These are animals that more closely resemble corals in structure than they do anomones. Corynactis is basically a coral without the hard skeleton.
Corallimorphs are very common in many tropical areas, but along the Monterey coast, Corynactis is the only species you're likely to see. Fortunately it is one of the more common animals in Monterey kelp forests.
Corynactis ranges in color from purple, through the reds, to a pinkish-white. It's tentacles are usually a bright white, but can sometimes be a shade of the body color. They end in rounded club-tips that are batteries of nematocysts, the stinging organelles common to all cnidarians.
C orynactis settles on the rock as a single individual, and grows by cloning itself, forming patches of up to a square meter in size. Each clonal patch consists of individuals all of the same color. One of the most spectacular sights encountered while diving in this area are the many large vertical rock faces covered with hundreds of Cornactis clones, each a different color, growing together into a pink, white, red, and orange quilt.
The nematocysts of Corynactis are some of the largest in the world. Because of this, they have been used in a number of studies on how nematocysts function. They also serve as protection for many sessile animals that live in the midst of large patches of Corynactis. Pisaster giganteus, a large predatory sea star, is the scourge of many sessile inverts, especially barnacles. One of the few places where large patches of barnacles commonly persist is in the middle of areas covered by Corynactis. This is because Corynactis's nematocysts sting the tube feet of Pisaster, a sensation the star seems to prefer to avoid. Where barnacles grow near the edge of a patch of Corynactis, you can often find Pisaster trying to "step" over the Corynactis to reach their prey.
Not all sea stars are similarly affected, however. The Leather Star, Dermasterias imbricata, is actually known to feed on Corynactis itself.