Majano Anemone

MAJANO ANEMONE (ANEMONIA MANJANO)

Description:

Photo courtesy of DAR

  • Small brown to tan anemone with green tentacles
  • Rounded tips with light, sometimes pink coloration (DAR field observation)

Habitat:

  • Native to the Indian Ocean. Records indicate spread into the Philippines and Western Pacific (Vallejo et al. 2019)
  • Ability to colonize multiple substrates, including rock, rubble, and sand, as well as both live and dead coral (Tkachenko & Britayev, 2016)

Impacts & Concern:

  • Rapid growth paired with few known predators leads to unchecked spread
  • Can detach from the substrate and relocate while leaving behind tissue to grow into a new anemone
  • Easily fragments when disturbed; each fragment can grow into a viable adult

    Photo courtesy of DAR

  • Can colonize a variety of coral forms, including branching, encrusting, and mounding (Tkachenko & Britayev, 2016)
  • Small size and cryptic nature can lead to difficulty with monitoring and removal efforts

Introduction:

  • Likely introduced from aquarium releases

Distribution in Hawaiʻi:

  • Kauai: Not documented
  • Oʻahu: Pearl Harbor & Kāne‘ohe Bay

  • Reported distribution of Anemonia manjano in the Main Hawaiian Islands

    Molokai: Not documented
  • Lanai: Not documented
  • Maui: Not documented
  • Big Island: Not documented

Related AIS Team Management Projects:

  • AIS is collaborating with NERR, HIMB, DoD, TNC, NOAA, and colleagues from DAR on monitoring and eradication efforts

News:

Regulations:

  • Restricted for private and commercial use including for research by universities or government agencies, exhibition in municipal zoos or government-affiliated aquariums, for other institutions for medical or scientific purposes (§4-71-6.5) 
  • Does not include individual possession of an animal as a pet

References:

  • Vallejo, B. M., Aloy, A. B., Ocampo, M., Conejar-Espedido, J., & Manubag, L. M. (2019). Manila bay ecology and associated invasive species. Impacts of Invasive Species on Coastal Environments: Coasts in Crisis, 145-169.
  • Tkachenko, K. S., & Britayev, T. A. (2016). Unusually high abundance of the actiniarian Anemonia manjano Carlgren, 1900 outcompeting scleractinians in central Vietnam. Marine Biodiversity, 46(3), 545-546.