Amphianthus dohrnii is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the western end of the Mediterranean Sea.

It is scarce on the west coast of Scotland but more plentiful in southwestern Britain and in the western and southern parts of Ireland.

[3] Amphianthus dohrnii is a small species, seldom exceeding 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter, though the base, where it adheres to the substrate, may be up to 25 mm (1.0 in) long.

It has about eighty short, tapering tentacles and is red, orange, pinkish or buff, with irregular translucent white markings.

[5] Amphianthus dohrnii was at one time common in both the Mediterranean and the English Channel, but it seems now to be absent from the former and increasingly rare in the latter.