Sea anemone cytolysins constitute a novel class of toxins that functions by forming channels in cell membranes. In contrast to the bacterial pore-forming toxins, there is little detailed information on the mechanism of action of these toxins and as yet no 3-D structures have been determined. These highly basic toxins of mass ∼20 kDa generate pores in membranes containing sphingomyelin by formin...

Gene families, which encode toxins, are found in many poisonous animals, yet there is limited understanding of their evolution at the nucleotide level. The release of the genome draft sequence for the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis enabled a comprehensive study of a gene family whose neurotoxin products affect voltage-gated sodium channels. All gene family members are clustered in a highly ...

The BlobTree provides a hierarchical data structure for the definition of complex models built from implicit surfaces, CSG Boolean operations and space warping functions. The implicit model within the system is defined as a hierarchical composition of multiple objects. In this paper, we describe an application of the BlobTree to create visually accurate models of two invertebrates, the sea anem...

A species of sea anemone found in shallow water areas of southern Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, but never before reported from Hawaii, is described. It is identified as Actiniogeton sesere, previously recorded and described from the Torres Straits (Haddon and Shackleton 1893). HAWAII'S COELENTERATE FAUNA is poorly known and is in need of serious study. As I have discussed elsewhere (Dunn 1974), the single...

The shallow water sea anemone that was described by Verrill (1928) as Macranthea cookei from specimens collected in Hawaii is redescribed and synonymized with Radianthus pqpillosa, first described by Kwietniewski (1898) as Stichodactis papillosa from Ambon. sand flats on Moku 0 Loe (Coconut Island), Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, were studied alive and in preserved condition. To ascertain that the species ...

Exploration of the lower surface of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica by the Submersible Capable of under-Ice Navigation and Imaging (SCINI) remotely operated vehicle discovered a new species of sea anemone living in this previously undocumented ecosystem. This discovery was a significant outcome of the Coulman High Project's geophysical and environmental fieldwork in 2010-2011 as part of the AN...

The mitochondrial genome of basal animals is generally more slowly evolving than that of bilaterians. This difference in rate complicates the study of relationships among members of these lineages and the discovery of cryptic species or the testing of morphological species concepts within them. We explore the properties of mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal genes in the cnidarian order Actinia...

Cadherin 23 (CDH23), a component of tip links in hair cells of vertebrate animals, is essential to mechanotransduction by hair cells in the inner ear. A homolog of CDH23 occurs in hair bundles of sea anemones. Anemone hair bundles are located on the tentacles where they detect the swimming movements of nearby prey. The anemone CDH23 is predicted to be a large polypeptide featuring a short exopl...

Despite being important components in coastal marine systems, sea anemones have been poorly studied on both coasts of Costa Rica. In this paper new records of sea anemones are mentioned for the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and the Isla del Coco National Park. Additionally, the presence of other species previously recorded in Costa Rica based on single observations or photos, is re...