Stichodactyla mertensii Brandt, 1835

Amjad, Farah, Ahusan, Mohamed, Amir, Hana, de Villiers, Nina M, Gress, Erika, Mah, Christopher L, Naeem, Shafiya, Rico-Seijo, Nuria, Samaai, Toufiek, Afzal, Maryiam S, Woodall, Lucy C & Stefanoudis, Paris V, 2024, An underwater imagery identification guide for shallow, mesophotic and deep-sea benthos in Maldives, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 120128-e 120128 : e120128-

Stichodactyla mertensii Brandt, 1835

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Stichodactyla mertensii ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa-Hexacorallia; order: Actiniaria ; family: Stichodactylidae ; genus: Stichodactyla ; scientificNameAuthorship: Brandt, 1835; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Maldives; locality: Laamu ; minimumDepthInMeters: 10; maximumDepthInMeters: 30; locationRemarks: Nekton Maldives Mission; Identification: identifiedBy: Farah Amjad, Paris Stefanoudis; dateIdentified: 2022, 2023; identificationRemarks: Identified only from imagery; Event: samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR Snorkel; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Large anemone with densely packed short, finger-like or club-shaped tentacles. Slightly undulated ovular disc, growth sometimes following the profile of substratum and attached by adhesive verrucae. Average diameter of oral disc of measured individuals ~ 4 cm, although pcitured specimen was closer to 10 cm (Fig. 50 ).

Figures

Figure 50. Stichodactyla mertensii with host anemone fish Amphiprion clarkii, Laamu, 10 m.