Red Waratah Anemone

About this species

Actinia tenebrosa, commonly known as the waratah anemone, is the most common species of sea anemone found in the waters of eastern Australia and New Zealand. It is found relatively high on the seashore, in rock pools, and various cracks and shaded surfaces such as under rock overhangs in the intertidal zone.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Actinia tenebrosa”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 663 records
February: 490 records
March: 450 records
April: 568 records
May: 401 records
June: 315 records
July: 328 records
August: 404 records
September: 480 records
October: 564 records
November: 455 records
December: 583 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–15 m · Deepest record: 265 m

0–10 m: 17 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–21 °C

10–12 °C: 3 records
12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 8 records
16–18 °C: 16 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 5 records

Photos

(c) wild_wind, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by wild_wind · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Paul Morris, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Red Waratah Anemone, Waratah anemone, Cherry Anemone, Maori red anemone, Red sea anemone

Other scientific names: Actinia teneblosa

Similar species

Beadlet anemone
Actinia equina
Actinia striata
Actinia australiensis
Opelet anemone
Anemonia viridis
Aggregating anemone
Anthopleura elegantissima
Small Brown Sea Anemone
Anthopleura hermaphroditica

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,326 open-data records from 1924 to 2024.
Species data updated October 31, 2026.