Study of the morphology and ultrastructure of the symbiotic Zooxanthellae extracted from Stichodactyla haddoni from coast of Hormuz Island

The present study was conducted to study the morphology of the symbiotic Zooxanthellae with an anemone of Stichodactyla haddoni. Sampling of the sea anemone was carried out in the east coast the Island of Hormuz during a full tide in summer of 2015. The samples were placed in a nitrogen tank and transferred to a laboratory in the shortest possible time. Extracting and counting the Zooxanthellae cells which coexist in symbiosis with the sea anemone were made with an electrical homogenizer. The stages of preparation and fixation of samples were conducted by glutaraldehyde 3%, alcohol and acetone and then the Zooxanthellae cells were examined with the optical microscopes of HP31 and Zeiss and an the electron microscope. The results of the study showed that, firstly, Zooxanthellae can be multiplied only by mitosis in coexistence conditions. Secondly, it is known that the cells of one species should be approximately one size, but the size of some cells, which were extracted, were considerably different from other. Therefore, it is possible to assume that the studied anemone of Stichodactyla haddoni included more than one species of the symbiotic Zooxanthellae in the investigated time.