Ghost anemone

Diadumene leucolena

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–18 m
Water temperature9–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, April, and June
How commonRare

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

About this species

Diadumene leucolena, commonly known as the white anemone or ghost anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Diadumenidae. It is an inconspicuous species found in the intertidal and subtidal areas of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the northern Pacific Ocean. Diadumene, "diadem-bearer", referring to the crown of tentacles, is a female form intended to bring to mind the Diadumenos, the renowned Greek sculpture of an athlete crowning himself with the victor's ribbon diadem.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 23 records
February: 7 records
March: 5 records
April: 18 records
May: 10 records
June: 20 records
July: 18 records
August: 10 records
September: 18 records
October: 12 records
November: 6 records
December: 4 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 40 m

0–10 m: 11 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–29 °C

8–10 °C: 2 records
10–12 °C: 9 records
12–14 °C: 22 records
14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 7 records
24–26 °C: 12 records
26–28 °C: 14 records
28–30 °C: 5 records

Photos

(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Biasillo, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) LJ Moore-McClelland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) jhammock, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ghost anemone, Pallid anemone, White anemone, ghost anemone, Ghost Anemone, pallid anemone, Pallid Anemone, white anemone, White Anemone

Names in 1 more languages

German: Geisteraktinie

Other scientific names: Cylista leuconela, Cylista levolena, Diadumene leucolens, Diadumine leucolena, Sagartia (Thoe) leucolena, Sagartia leucolena

Similar species

Green-striped anemone
Diadumene lineata
San Francisco anemone
Diadumene franciscana
New Zealand Striped Anemone
Diadumene neozelanica
Diadumene schilleriana

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).
234 open-data records from 1866 to 2023.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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