Starlet sea anemone
4201766
221770551
2008-06-26T00:53:08Z
Hesperian
111359
| status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3
{{Taxobox | name = Starlet sea anemone
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3
| phylum = [[Cnidaria]]
| classis = [[Anthozoa]]
| ordo = [[Sea anemone|Actiniaria]]
| familia = [[Edwardsiidae]]
| genus = ''[[Nematostella]]''
| species = '''''N. vectensis'''''
| binomial = ''Nematostella vectensis''
| binomial_authority = [[Thomas Alan Stephenson|Stephenson]], 1935
}}
The '''starlet sea anemone''' (''Nematostella vectensis'') is a [[species]] of [[sea anemone]] native to the east coast of the United States, with introduced populations along the coast of southeast [[England]] and west coast of the United States.
<ref>{{cite journal
|author=C. Hand & K.R. Uhlinger
|month=Jun
|year=1994
|title=The unique, widely distributed estuarine sea anemone, ''Nematostella vectensis'' Stephenson: a review, new facts, and questions
|journal=Estuaries
|volume=17
|issue=2
|pages=501–508
|doi=10.2307/1352679}}</ref>{{Fact|date=April 2008}} Populations have also been located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The starlet sea anemone has a bulbous basal end and a contracting column (usually less than two cm but no more than six cm) in order to burrow into the mud. At the top of the column is an oral disk containing the mouth surrounded by two rings of tentacles - typically 16 but up to 20. Although the general color is a greyish white, recent food consumption may temporarily affect pigmentation.
''N. vectensis'' is the first [[cnidarian]] with a completely [[sequenced]] [[genome]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==Links==
*[http://www.nematostella.org/ Nematostella.org]
*[http://www.stellabase.org/ StellaBase]
*[http://tolweb.org/Nematostella/17796 Nematostella's Tree of Life entry]
*[http://genome.jgi-psf.org/Nemve1/Nemve1.home.html JGI's Nematostella Genome Project]
[[Category:Anthozoa]]
{{cnidarian-stub}}