Spongiactis japonica Sanamyan, Sanamyan et Tabachnick, 2012
This very interesting and in some respects unique species lives symbiotically within cups of glass sponges Hyalonema sieboldi collected in Sagami Bay (Japan) at depth of about 500m . We described it in 2012 as a new species, new genus and erected a new family Spongiactinidae for it. Unfortunately we have no photos of living specimens, the picture reproduced here shows our photo of several preserved specimens and a drawing from old monograph of Schulze (published in 1860) who was first who mentioned these anemones in the body of the sponge (but not applied any scientific name for them - so actually the species remained undescribed and not known to zoologists) and who showed them as numerous small red-orange dots in the caves of the dermal surface of H. sieboldi.
