Leathery colonial anemone

Scientific name : Palythoa cf.tuberculosa

It is a colonial Zoanthidea colonies are large and polyps, flattened and with a diameter up to 2 cm, are like fuse together in a leathery colonial tissue. Short knob like tentacles, brown colour. Many Palythoa species accumulate in the internal organs a very powerful toxin, and for this reason they have practucally no natural predators.
Palythoa caesia and probably other very similar species live in our area, and they are very difficult to identify. Palythoa vestitus is easily identified by the polyps, appearently indipendent.