Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, California

Compiled & photographed by Gary McDonald, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz

Description: Tentacles variable in color, often with pink, lavender or bluish tips, and white flecks. Usually with brownish, olive, or purplish radiating lines on oral disc. The column with vertical rows of adhesive tubercles (verrucae) which are used to attach pebbles, shell fragments etc., which may help reduce desiccation during exposure at low tide. May be distinguished from Anthopleura elegantissima which is smaller and occurs in large aggregations.
Size: Column more than 5cm in diameter; tentacle crown up to 25 cm in diameter.
Notes: Individuals are solitary, not occurring in aggregations.