Understanding the distribution, abundance and habitat preferences of species in the Southern Ocean provides a foundation for assessing the impacts of environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance on Antarctic ecosystems. In near-shore waters at Casey and Davis Stations, photoquadrat surveys were used to determine sea anemone distribution and abundance, habitat preferences, associations with other species and the impact of human disturbance on sea anemone distribution. Two distinct sea anemone morphotypes were found in this study: large sea anemones that require hard substrate for attachment and small, burrowing sea anemones found in muddy sediment. The large sea anemones were found in rocky habitats, with the exception of some sedimentary habitats where other biota were used as substrate. The large sea anemones were associated with a diverse community of epibenthic species found in rocky habitats. The burrowing sea anemones were associated with a less diverse assemblage of sediment-dwelling epibenthos. At Casey Station, sea anemones were more abundant in habitats adjacent to a former waste disposal site than at control sites. The reason for this is not yet known, but may be due to high organic matter inputs or, alternatively, a longer sea ice duration providing protection from ice scour.

Potential host species were searched for decapod crustaceans along the coasts of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. On five species of sea anemones checked, nine species of decapods were encountered. On three species of black coral checked, two decapod species were encountered. On six species of gorgonians checked, three species of decapods were encountered. In nine species of bivalves and one species of gastropod checked, one decapod species was encountered. On three sea urchin species checked, three decapod species were encountered. A further seven potential host species investigated did not have macroscopically visible symbiotic decapods. Four of these 18 symbiotic decapod species represent new records for the State of Espírito Santo, five species represent new records for Brazil, and at least one species (probably three) were new for science. The sea anemone Condylactis gigantea harboured the largest number of symbionts (eight species) and the shrimp Neopontonides sp. occurred on the largest number of hosts (four different species of gorgonians).