Haliplanella lineata (Verrill, 1870)

This anemone is a native of Japan but is now very abundant in San Francisco Bay. It was first described from the Bay in 1906, having perhaps arrived here as a secondary introduction from the northeastern US with the importation of Atlantic oyster stocks. This anemone is also known from other harbors along our coast, as well as from the Atlantic. The fact that this species possesses the faculty, possibly unique among anemones, of forming a durable dormant cyst to withstand severe conditions has likely contributed to its widespread dispersal by long-distance transport. (Adapted in part from Cohen and Carlton, 1995)