Photosensitivity, circadian rhythm and sophisticated neurons revealed by a deep-sea Venus flytrap sea anemone genome

The Venus flytrap sea anemones Actinoscyphia live in the deep-sea environment. Different from other sea anemones, Actinoscyphia show specialized morphology with complete bisymmetry. Moreover, their pedal discs possess unusual abilities to stand upright and flexibly seizuring other objects. To understand the ecological success of this special species, we sequenced the genome of a deep-sea anemone Actinoscyphia sp. collected from 1,403 m on the Kocebu Guyot and focused on their photosensitivity, circadian rhythm and nervous system.