Calliactis polypus

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–505 m
Water temperature13–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Calliactis polypus is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It is usually found living on the surface of a sea snail shell in which a hermit crab is living.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Calliactis polypus”, 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: 12 records
February: 21 records
March: 27 records
April: 28 records
May: 23 records
June: 20 records
July: 14 records
August: 20 records
September: 20 records
October: 22 records
November: 28 records
December: 24 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–505 m · Deepest record: 1,404.5 m

0–10 m: 14 records
10–20 m: 8 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 3 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: 7 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–30 °C

12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 21 records
24–26 °C: 18 records
26–28 °C: 22 records
28–30 °C: 19 records

Photos

(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dominik Maximilián Ramík, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: ベニヒモイソギンチャク
Korean: 폴립집게말미잘

Other scientific names: Actinia decorata, Actinia polypus, Adamsia decorata, Adamsia miriam, Calliactis decorata, Calliactis miriam, Cribrina (Tristemma) polypus, Priapus polypus

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).
176 open-data records from 1893 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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