Purple-tipped Sea Anemone

Abstract: 

Whale Bone Bay, in the northern part of Bermuda, was chosen as the site for a broad observational study of species interactions with anemones. The specific marine organisms that were seen occupying the immediate area of the anemone were recorded during both the day and the night, so that correlations of interactions could be determined to be significant or not. Also, data was collected on the dimensions of the anemones and their density in the bay, to get a general idea of the size and distribution of the anemones. The results yielded no significance in the species interactions but suggested that interactions could exist if further research and data collection was done. Also there were significant correlations between the different dimensions of the anemones. 

Introduction:

In the diverse marine life in tropical waters, there are many species that show interactions with each other. Some of the most well known interactions are between the sea anemone and the shrimp in the Hippolytidae Family (Stevens, 2000), as well  as the anemone and the clown fish (Dunn, 1981). These interactions form symbiotic relationships between the two species (Elliott, 1992, Jonsson 1998), and show the common choice in habitat. However, since anemones tend to be found in areas of high marine-organism densities (Zahra, 2008) there would be a higher chance for more species interactions. Many fish and crustaceans were observed to be swimming in the vicinity of anemones; perhaps some of those organisms would demonstrate a significant interaction with the anemone.