Symbiosis in Sea Anemones: A Few Case Reports Along the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem

Abstract

The most well‐known relationship is between sea anemones and decapod crustaceans, of which crabs are classic examples of mutualistic interactions in which both organisms benefit from living with zooxanthellae and hermatypic or reef‐forming corals. A marine ecology study off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu revealed five types of sea anemones that cohabit symbiotically with other marine animals. These species include Stichodactyla haddoni (Saville‐Kent, 1893), Entacmaea quadricolor (Leuckart in Ruppell and Leukart, 1828), Radianthus (= Heteractis ) magnifica (Quoy and Gaimard, 1833), Radianthus (= Heteractis ) crispa (Ehrenberg, 1834), and Calliactis polypus (Forsskal, 1775), are found in symbiotic associations. This observation revealed that the decapod porcelain crab Neopetrolisthes is associated with the sea anemones Radianthus and Entacmaea , whereas this has not been reported in Stichodactyla . The hermit crab anemone, C. polypus , is generally associated with hermit crabs, and we report this association for the first time in live gastropod, Turbinella pyrum (Linnaeus, 1767). A few animals (both the host and symbiont) were brought to the cnidarian laboratory at the ICAR‐Tuticorin Regional Station of the CMFRI, where they were maintained in optimum seawater for further observations. The present study aimed to compare previous reports of symbiosis in decapod crustaceans and gastropods with sea anemones from Indian waters to provide insight into the dynamics of symbiosis in the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem.

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