Stichodactyla haddoni is relatively common on sand spits and sandy lagoon slopes, often in and around patches of Halimeda algae. It comes in a variety of colors and is usually occupied by numerous juvenile Amphiprion tricinctus and Dascyllus trimaculatus. Often other fish, including juvenile butterflyfish such as Chaetodon kleini, hang around, apparently careful not to touch the anemone's stinging tentacles. The various colors make this a quite photogenic species.
During a bleaching episode in September and October of 2009, the anemone above lost quite a bit of its color. The white bands help identify it. The animal above was photographed on 26 May 2009, while the bleached one below was on 20 September 2009. Many of the S. haddoni shrank in in size during the bleaching, but most, including the one below, did survive.
Here is another S. haddoni bleached out on 20 September 2009.
This freshly settled juvenile tang must have brushed against the sticky,stinging tentacles. It will be eaten by the anemone.
The next two are very young, small S. haddoni on clumps of Halimeda algae.
Created 1 September 2010
Updated 14 October 2012