Sea AnemonesChapter 7.2

Sea Anemone Traits

Although sea anemones look like flowers, they are predatory animals.

These invertebrates have no skeleton at all.

They live attached to firm objects in the seas, usually the sea floor, rock, or coral, but they can slide around very slowly with their muscular foot.

More Anemone Traits

Can reproduce sexually (with egg and sperm) and asexually (by lateral fission) with no medusa phase.

There are over 1000 species found in coastal waters worldwide, in shallow waters (including coral reefs), and in deep oceans.

Usually 1 to 4 inches (2.5-10 cm) across, but a few grow to be 6 feet (1.8 m) across.

Anemone Diet

Sea anemones are carnivores that eat fish, mussels, zooplankton (like copepods, other small crustaceans, and tiny marine larvae), and worms.

They catch food using the tentacles, which have poisonous stingers (called nematocysts) and feed like jellyfish.

Symbiotic Relationships

Clown fish always live near anemones; they are immune from (and protected by) the stinging tentacles. The clown fish help the anemone by cleaning the tentacles (as the fish eat detritus) and perhaps by scaring away predators.

Clown Fish

More Symbiosis

Hermit crabs sometimes attach sea anemones to their shells for camouflage. Sea anemone gets exposed to more food moving around.

Predators

Sea Anemones are eaten by very few animals. Their predators include the Grey Sea Slug and the Tompot Blenny.

Grey Sea Slug

Tompot Blenny

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (animals) Phylum Cnidaria (corals, jellyfish,

sea anemones, hydroids) Class Anthozoa meaning

"flower-like animals" (corals and sea anemones)