Stichodactyla helianthus, the sun anemone or Caribbean carpet anemone (family Stichodactylidae), is found in shallow reef environments of the Caribbean Sea and tropical western Atlantic, forming compact, sun-flower-like oral discs with numerous short tentacles attached to rocky surfaces and rubble. Unlike its Indo-Pacific congeners, it does not typically host clownfish due to the absence of Amphiprion from the Atlantic, but it is associated with several endemic commensal shrimp and fish species. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.