Violet-spotted anemone extending towards purple soft coral.
Photo by Mark Walters
Violet-spotted anemone as it is more commonly seen, and showing off the radiating lines around the mouth and the random scattering of violet spots along the column.
Two more violet-spotted anemones, both from Whittle rock.
A dwarf violet-spotted anemone, showing the lack of radiating lines, and the parallel lines of spots.
Two more dwarf violet-spotted anemone, both at full stretch.
Photos Guido Zsilavecz
Two Oceans describes this anemone as a "strikingly-coloured but little-known speceis usually found singly or in small groups in sandy sites near or below low tide." All the A. stephensoni images shown were taken at Whittle Rock, far from the intertidal zone, and not near sand either. Compared to others I have seen, these were behaving in an interesting manner, extending themselves to reach purple soft coral on which they were obviously feeding. This type of behaviour I had seen before, but only with a different (but possibly related) species which is not described in Two Oceans, but illustrated on the back cover. The species, which we call the dwarf violet-spotted anemone because it is usually smaller, lacks the radiating lines around the mouth, and in contrast to the random spots on the column of the violet-spotted, has its spots in neat parallel rows. It is common at Coral Gardens, and is very often extended for feeding.
Two Oceans, A guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.