Specimen image via iDigBio · CC0
Nematostella
Sign in to saveNematostella is a genus of sea anemones in the family Edwardsiidae. Of the three species in the genus, the best known is the starlet sea anemone (N. vectensis), which has been extensively studied as a model organism in fields such as genetics, evolution, and ecology. The defining morphological apomorphy of Nematostella is the presence of nematosomes. Nematostella are able to reproduce asexually and regenerate from small fragments due to their simple body structure, pluripotent cells, specific genetic mechanisms, and evolutionary adaptations.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumCnidaria
- ClassAnthozoa
- OrderActiniaria
- FamilyEdwardsiidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 30
- With media
- 68
- Family
- Edwardsiidae
- Collections
- LACM, UF, YPM
- Recorded in
- United States
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Edwardsiidae
- Image
- Nematostella vectensis.JPG
Show 3 more facts
- taxon name
- Nematostella
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons category
- Nematostella
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
1 sectionsContents
- References
Nematostella is a genus of sea anemones in the family Edwardsiidae. Of the three species in the genus, the best known is the starlet sea anemone (N. vectensis), which has been extensively studied as a model organism in fields such as genetics, evolution, and ecology. The defining morphological apomorphy of Nematostella is the presence of nematosomes. Nematostella are able to reproduce asexually and regenerate from small fragments due to their simple body structure, pluripotent cells, specific genetic mechanisms, and evolutionary adaptations.
Species: Nematostella nathorstii (Carlgren, 1921) Nematostella polaris (Carlgren, 1921) Nematostella vectensis Stephenson, 1935 – starlet sea anemone
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Nematostella” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.