Burying anemone off Cathedral Rocks?

[oceancurrent]

By the looks of it, I would say it was quite alive. I must agree, it doesn't look much like any anemone I've seen. Perhaps some sort of tunicate? Squid eggs? Hmm...

Here are the high resolution versions of the pics, if you'd like to take a closer look:

Pic 1
Pic 2

 

[Rainer]

Don't look much like the squid eggs I saw in Redondo CA in January. Mystery.

 

[LobstaMan]

Cnidarians? Sounds like an alien race from Star Wars or one of the Star Trek spin-offs. Are they from the planet Cnidaria? We are not alone...........

LobstaMan

 

[RIOceanographer]

I found out what it is from a fellow scientist that specializes in these sorts of critters. It is a sponge of the genus Polymastia. He couldn't tell which specific species from the picture.

Less exciting than Dave's theory, but at least you don't have to worry about it probing you.

 

[MSilvia]

That sucker would make one weird loofah.

 

[oceancurrent]

Thanks, Chris. I am relieved that it is not an alien.

 

[oceancurrent]

Here is one more theory I received from a marine biologist:

"looks like there are several candidates, if we limit this to
being a burrowing anemone, which I think it probably is:
Actinostola
Actinothoe
Ceriantheopsis
Cerianthus
It'd be nice if there was some scale. Judging from some of the
descriptions of these species, the pedal disk is probably deeply
embeded in the sand, and the mouth could be easily inverted and hidden
from obvious view. Could be more than one individual. Some of the
species above have oral diameters of up to 10-12 inches."

Hmmm... both the sponge and the anemone theories seem plausible to me. If I recall correctly, this specimen was at least the size of my palm if not bigger.

 

[MSilvia]

Did you notice if the tentacles were actively fishing for plankton?

 

[oceancurrent]

I can't recall well. But my feeling is that it was rigid and not moving much.

 

[MSilvia]

Every anemone I've seen (that didn't have it's tentacles retracted) was pretty active, so it being rigid makes me think 'sponge'. It really does LOOK like an anemone though... if it's a sponge, I wonder if it might have evolved a mimic defense to protect it from predators who already know better than to chomp on stinging tentacles.