Nematostella vectensis pt. 2

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Order Actinaria
Family Edwardsiidae
Genus Nematostella
Species vectensis

Common name: starlet sea anemone

Here we have our adorable developing Nematostella polyps!  Nematostella are anthozoans within the cnidarian phylum.  However, unlike most cnidarians, they do not have a dual life cycle.  They only possess the polyp life cycle stage, no medusa stage.  These little fellows are native to the East coast of the United States.

Pictures:

These pictures show the really cute and odd movements of the polyps.  It seems they have a contractile circumferential rings of muscle around their body that they use to pump water through their body.  They are also able to stretch themselves until they are long and skinny, or contract themselves into a little ball.  Sometimes they invert their tentacles into their body, and sometimes they have them sticking way out.  Their movements are so dynamic!

In the video and pictures, both the mesentaries and tentacles are clearly visible.

Fertilized 1500 4/16/13
Images captured 5/2/13

Video:

-Amy Kim