Image from Crescent Bay & Shaw's Cove, Laguna Beach, CA, March 25, 2005

Anthopleura sola (solitary anemone) - Like the clonal A. elegantissima but differing from A. xanthogrammica, A. sola has lines radiating from the mouth, and its column has sparse and approximately parallel rows of tubercles (see here). A. xanthogrammica (giant green anemone; see here) has a solid green oral disk and dense, irregularly arranged, tubercles on its column. A. sola is by far the most common large green anemone in southern California whereas A. xanthogrammica is rare there but can be found in wave-exposed areas where there is cold upwelling, such as along Palos Verdes. A. xanthogrammica is the most common large anemone north of San Francisco and is also relatively common in the cold upwelling area near Santo Tomás in northern Baja California.

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Image by D. J. Eernisse © 2005 (In order to photograph this anemone, I used a trick learned this day from Dr. Weintraub, who reflected sunlight into a shaded tidepool with a signal mirror.)

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