What is this squishy creature from the deep?

November 26, 2006 7:42 PM

What is this living creature washed up on the beach in Virginia?

Went for a long walk on the beach south of Virginia Beach, VA this weekend, and came upon this almost-dead living creature that I can't seem to identify. At first I thought maybe a sea cucumber, but I can't find any pictures online that look even remotely like it. I have spent lots of time googling sea cucumbers, jelly fish, and various other marine life without finding anything that matches. Anyone know what it is?

posted by gemmy to pets & animals (6 comments total)

I strongly suspect it's a variety of sea squirt, but IANAMB (I Am Not A Marine Biologist).

Perhaps someone who is can provide confirmation (or disagreement) and detail.
posted by musicinmybrain at 7:49 PM on November 26, 2006

Hmm, it might be a sea squirt (which are tunicates) but they are usually smaller than this looks, and less 'leathery' looking, and often have multiple orifices (usually two, called "siphons"). I am thinking it is more like a detached sea anemone, which, while they look like flowers when alive and feeding, can pull all their bits tightly inside, and often have the leathery appearing, longitudinal ridging that this shows. See this pic (ignore the misleading URL). Google "cnidarians" as well. On the other hand, anemones are tightly rooted to the substrate and this thing looks like it just fell off.
posted by Rumple at 8:27 PM on November 26, 2006

Or, on second thought, scroll down (about 20% down the page) to the sea cucumber on this site: from coastal NC, so not a million miles away. The burrowing cnidarian edwardsia is also a possibility and doesn't seem to firmly attach.
posted by Rumple at 8:43 PM on November 26, 2006

I thought it looked more like the Onion Sea Anemone toward the bottom of Rumples link.
posted by lannanh at 8:59 PM on November 26, 2006

Ohh, you guys rock!

I think lannanh is right that it is an Onion Sea Anemone like the one from Rumple's link. It's the right location, and it looks very similar to the other Actiniaria I found a good pic of, and the one from this pdf identi-sheet. They also seem to wash up on beaches frequently.

I would never have figured that out. Thanks!
posted by gemmy at 9:35 PM on November 26, 2006

As an ex marine aquarist, I've seen a few dying sea anemones. That looks like an anemone to me - the left side is the top all closed in on itself, and the right is the pedal disc (anemones aren't permanently 'glued' to their anchor point like barnacles, but can move about and even detach if they're not happy where they are). And, as Rumple says, the longitudinal ridging is anemone-like.

But, apart from looking decidedly unhappy because it's out of the water, it looks fairly healthy. Maybe it just got detached in a storm and washed up on the beach?

Interesting fact: when you buy one from the pet shop, they put them in the bag like this - if the bag was filled with water, the anemone may open and expose the tentacles and delicate stomach to damage during transport.
posted by Pinback at 9:44 PM on November 26, 2006