(photos of Dirk Schories, Germany: specimens from Chile, SE Pacific)
This Chilean species has been referred as Actinothoe lobata (Carlgren, 1899) or Metridium parvulum McMurrich, 1904 or as a subspecies of Metridium senile. Its exterior, however, differs significantly from Metridium senile and this southern species cannot be assigned to this species. Although its generic assignment requires confirmation we refer it here as a separate species of the genus Metridium: M. lobatum.
Taxonomy:
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Order Actiniaria
