Radianthus crispa was most often found on the seaward reef in the Marshalls, and they were nearly always occupied by Amphiprion chrysopterus. Most often tan to brown in color, often with pink or purple tips to the tentacles, they sometimes become bluish to purplish overall. These anemones are strongly affected by bleaching, when warmer than usual water temperature causes them to lose their symbiotic zooxanthellae and become mostly white, sometimes with pink tentacles tips. Once one of the most common clownfish hosting anemones in Kwajalein Atoll, these were all but wiped out by the series of bleaching events in 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Even before that last bleaching, we had seen only two specimens of this once common anemone in the previous two years, and all the familiar individuals we had visited many times at favorite dive sites were gone.
Created 1 September 2010
Updated 11 December 2024