First evidence for coloniality in sea anemones

Sea anemones, a conspicuous group of marine benthic invertebrates, are considered to be strictly solitary animals. This is in contrast to almost all other orders of the class Anthozoa, which have colony-forming members, the best known examples being reef-building corals. Here we show that the sagartiid sea anemone Cereus herpetodes (McMurrich, 1904) from Chile forms flabello-meandroid colonies through intratentacular budding, a feature hitherto known only from stony corals. This finding sheds new light upon the debated evolution of Anthozoa and the principles of colony formation within this group.