Anemone

This spectacular animal was seen living on the surface of the sediment at 1380 m depth at the Pweza-3 location. It has two layers of tentacles around the oral disc which appear to lie on the seabed rather than held in the water column. The upper layer tentacles are shorter than the lower. At 30 – 50 cm in diameter it was the largest anemone encountered in the deep water off Tanzania. Similar animals have been photographed in the deep sea before, for example in the Whittard Canyon in the Atlantic Ocean. It is so distinctive that is should be readily identifiable however the name of this species is unknown. Anemones from different families can look superficially similar, while individuals captured in a trawl or core sample and recovered to the surface can look very different to living examples on the seabed