We are happy to announce the world’s first exhibit of a breeding leathery sea anemone at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.

≪Leather sea anemone≫
Scientific name：Heteractis crispa

The leathery sea anemone is found in coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific. It is a large anemone reaching 50 cm in diameter. Like some corals, it has phytoplankton called zooxanthellae in its body, and it absorbs the nutrients created by photosynthesis. Its tentacles are long with pointy tips, most of the time the tips are purple or blue. In Japan, they often live symbiotically with pink clownfish and clown anemonefish.

From just their external appearance, it is difficult to distinguish the gender of a leather sea anemone. However, at our facility, we were able to develop methods to determine gender. We confirmed fertilization of eggs through rearing, and in 2023, breeding was successful. (We used the same breeding techniques we had used in 2020 for the world’s first successful breeding of the gigantic sea anemone.) We have placed the leather sea anemone and the pink anemonefish together. Both were successfully bred at this aquarium.

Place of exhibit

Coral Reef Gallery

Exhibited creatures

Leather sea anemone（Born in 2023）, Pink anemonefish（Born in 2024）

Exhibit duration

June 6th 2024 ～　
*Exhibit may close depending on the condition of the animals.

Species of clown anemonefish that are symbiotic with sea anemones includes this species. They are highly popular in home aquariums, but capturing too many in the wild could lead to population decline. The aquarium will continue to study reproduction of this species and use these techniques to contribute to the conservation of sea anemones, the home of clown anemonefish.