Photo by Andrew Taylor	Long-tentacled anemone Anthopleura michaelseni Andrew photographed this small anemone - about 2.5cm in diameter - at a depth of 18m offshore from Castle Rocks. He tried to use Two Oceans for identification, but could not find it there. The species is shown in Two Oceans, but it is quite clear why Andrew did not recognize it: the photo shows a brownish anemone with many more tentacles that on the one Andrew photographed. The adult long-tentacled anemone has 96 tentacles - from Andrew's photo I counted around 40. The similarity of the tentacles, especially the paler "bubbles" however resembled those found on the long-tentacled anemone. Question now was, do anemone's increase the number of tentacles as they grow. The answer is, yes, they do. In terms of the colour, while the photo in Two Oceans shows a brownish individual, it is mentioned that it can be "pink-to-brownish". It is thus most likely that Andrew's photo is indeed of a juvenile long-tentacled anemone.
References: Thanks to Professor Charles Griffiths (UCT) for information. Two Oceans, A guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.
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