BIOTIC

BIOTIC Species Information for Metridium senile
All Taxonomy Biology Distribution Reproduction

Researched by	Dr Keith Hiscock & Emily Wilson	Data supplied by	MarLIN
Refereed by	This information is not refereed.
General Biology
Growth form	Radial Globose	Feeding method	Passive suspension feeder
Mobility/Movement	Temporary attachment	Environmental position	Epilithic Epifaunal
Typical food types	Zooplankton but also larger prey. (See additional information.)	Habit	Erect
Bioturbator	Not relevant	Flexibility	High (>45 degrees)
Fragility	Intermediate	Size	Medium-large(21-50cm)
Height	Up to 30 cm	Growth Rate	9 cm/month
Adult dispersal potential	<10m	Dependency	Independent
Sociability	Gregarious
Toxic/Poisonous?	No
General Biology Additional Information	Growth rate Bucklin (1987a) observed that Metridium senile grew rapidly in laboratory culture when fed daily reaching a mean pedal diameter of 45 cm after 5 months. Feeding Anthony (1997) noted that small anemones had the highest feeding efficiency at moderate to high flow regimes (which might help to account for the prevalence of small individuals at wave-exposed locations). Robbins & Schick (1980) found that current strength was the principal cause of expansion in Metridium senile rather than food availability. The greatest percentage of the anemones were expanded when the tide was running than at slack water. Examination of waste pellets of Metridium senile on wharf pilings in Monterey Bay, California (Purcell, 1976) revealed a diet of copepods, polychaete larvae, bivalve and gastropod veligers, copepod naupliii, and barnacle nauplii and cyprids. Sebens (1984) demonstrated that barnacle cyprids, ascidian larvae and gammarid amphipods were the preferred food of Metridium senile over invertebrate eggs, foramaniferans, calanoid and harpacticoid copepods and ostracods. Predation on Metridium senile Metridium senile is subject to predation from both small and large consumers. The life stages of the sea spider Pycnogonum littorale found feeding on the anemone were reported by Wilhelm et al. (1997). The sea slug Aeolidia papillosa also feeds on Metridium senile (see, for instance, Reidy, 1996; Sebens, 1985). Sebens (1985) reported heavy mortality every winter in the Gulf of Maine, USA from Aeolidia papillosa. However, infestations may be sporadic. Gorzula & Cameron (1976) reported a population boom of Aeolidia papillosa at Millport, Firth of Clyde during February 1974 and that it was the third recorded that century. Effects on the Metridium senile population were considerable although the slugs vanished after four weeks. Epitonid snails (wentletraps) feed on anemones and Perron (1978) observed that Metridium senile was the preferred prey of Epitonium greenlandicum in the Bay of Fundy. Whether north-east Atlantic wentletraps feed on Metridium senile is uncertain although Graham (1988) notes that Epitonium clathrus feeds on Anemonia sulcata. Larger species that eat whole anemones include the black bream Spondyliosoma cantharus (Mattacola, 1976) and, in Newfoundland, the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Keats, 1990).
Biology References	Anthony, 1997, Reidy, 1996, Wilhelm et al., 1997, Keats, 1990, Bucklin, 1987a, Mattacola, 1976, Gorzula & Cameron, 1976, Perron, 1978, Graham, 1988,