Radianthus magnifica is a large and colorful anemone, nearly always inhabited by Amphiprion perideraion and Dascyllus trimaculatus, although several times now we have seen one occupied by an Amphiprion tricinctus, along with the usual complement of A. perideraion. The anemones can be found on both lagoon and seaward reefs, although they seem more common on lagoon reefs and pinnacles. They are generally found adhering to a hard substrate.
A school of Gnathodentex aureolineatum passes in the background behind two anemones.
Radianthus magnifica can often be seen "balled up," when it seems to draw its mouth and tentacles within its puffed-up body. This reveals the often colorful stalk, which can be white, orange, magenta, or other colors. Sometimes the stalk is ornamented with vertical lines.
The anemone in the two photos below has been present on a lagoon shipwreck at a depth of about 16m since at least 1973, making it 37 years old as this is written. It has gone through at least a couple of bleaching episodes, such as the one in the fall of 2009 shown in the second photo below. More bleached Radianthus magnifica anemones can be seen on other pages here and here.
Closeups of the tentacles reveal their striking colors.
Created 1 September 2010
Updated 11 December 2024