• Type: Cnidaria (Coelenterata) Hatschek, 1888 = Coelenterates, cnidarians, cnidarians
  • Subtype: Anthozoa Ehrenberg, 1834 = Corals, coral polyps
  • Class: Hexacorallia = Six-pointed corals
    • Order: Actiniaria = Anemones, sea flowers, sea anemones

Anemones, sea anemones - order Actiniaria

Sea anemones or sea anemones (Actiniaria) are a detachment from the class of six-ray corals, subtype Corals or coral polyps (Anthozoa). There are about 1500 known species of sea anemones. Sea anemones are rather large, fleshy animals, reaching a height of one meter. They have soft tubular bodies that are completely devoid of a calcareous skeleton.

The body of anemones is cylindrical in shape, which is truncated from above. It has a slit-like mouth surrounded by rows of tentacles. The bottom of the sea anemone body ends with a "sole", with the help of which the animal sticks, thus attaching itself to underwater objects.

At first glance, the similarity of anemone tentacles with flower petals is striking, and most of all they resemble chrysanthemum, dahlia and aster flowers. Anemones can be painted in a variety of colors. Among these animals there are species with purple, brown, snow-white, green and even pale blue bodies.

Anemones are widely distributed in the oceans. They live in arctic latitudes and in equatorial waters, in coastal sands and on sea ​​depths ah devoid of light, plunging to the bottom of the deepest oceanic trenches to a depth of over 10,000 meters. Sea anemones can be found on algae, sponges, corals and other marine animals. However, most anemone species prefer shallow coastal shallow waters, and water with a fairly high salinity. And they live mostly alone, in search of shelter they are able to overcome short distances.

At the ends of the tentacles in some species of anemones, trapping threads are formed due to the formation of a large number of stinging capsules here. At the same time, stinging capsules serve as sea anemones both for attack and for protection from enemies. The poison of the stinging threads, hitting the victim, instantly paralyzes it, as soon as the sea beauty touches them with tentacles. Even a person who unintentionally touches an anemone has a burn on the skin, and the hand swells for a long period. In addition, there is a general intoxication of the body, which is accompanied by headache and chills. After some time, at the site of the burns, the affected skin dies off, and deep, poorly healing ulcers form.

At the same time, the poison of the stinging anemone capsules is still not an absolutely reliable means of protection against enemies. So, some molluscs pursue sea anemones, as they are more or less insensitive or insensitive to their poison, and some types of fish, without harming themselves, easily swallow sea anemones. But many small fish are excellent food for predatory sea anemones.

The peaceful cohabitation of this sea "flower" and some fish, which is often found in nature, is also well known. Without the slightest harm to themselves, clown fish live among the tentacles of anemones. And the secret is in the protective mucus-shell that these fish are covered with, it is she who protects them from the poison of anemone tentacles. Clownfish, even in search of food, do not swim far from the sea anemone, and in case of danger they immediately hide in the thick of its tentacles. And the fish, in turn, eating their prey near the mouth of anemones and losing its remains, feed their protector, as it were, and with the active movements of their fins, they significantly improve its gas exchange. Thus, from such cohabitation, both clown fish and sea anemones receive mutual benefit, so their union is strong.

Other cases of symbiosis of sea anemones with marine organisms are also known. And the most classic example of such a relationship is the symbiosis of sea anemones and hermit crabs. And it happens like this: the hermit crab Eupagurus excavatus is looking for an empty shell of mollusks with sea anemones already attached to it, and in the case of such a find, it crawls from its shell to the found one. Or maybe the crayfish carefully remove the anemone from the stone and transplant it onto its shell ...

Sea anemones feed mainly on various small invertebrates, sometimes fish become their prey, which they first kill or paralyze with the “batteries” of their stinging cells or cnidocytes, and only after that they are pulled to the mouth with the help of tentacles. large species sea ​​anemones also feed on crabs and bivalves. In them, the edges of the mouth can swell, forming a semblance of a lip, which also contributes to the capture of prey.

Anemones such as Metridium, Radianthus and Stichodactyla, which have numerous tentacles, feed mainly on food particles suspended in the water. But the anemone Stichodactyla helianthus is able to catch sedentary sea ​​urchins, covering them with his muscular oral disc. Those anemones that feed on particles suspended in the water catch plankton inhabitants with the help of sticky mucus that covers the surface of the body and tentacles. Cilia located on the surface of the body always direct prey towards the oral disc, and cilia on the tentacles move food particles to the tips of the tentacles, after which the tentacles bend and send food to the mouth.

In sea anemones, both asexual and sexual reproduction can be observed. Asexual reproduction, which takes place by division or fragmentation of the body, is very common for sea anemones. The agamic species Aiptasia pallida, Haliplanella luciae, and Metridium senile are characterized by a very specialized form of fragmentation, the so-called pedal laceration. At the same time, small fragments of the edge of the sole can separate from the sea anemone when it moves, or they can simply creep away from the motionless sea anemone. As a result of such spreading around the base of the body of the parent individual, a kind of "witch's ring" is formed from young small anemones, into which separate fragments of the maternal sole soon turn. Asexual reproduction by longitudinal division of the body is also observed in representatives of many species of sea anemones, but division in the transverse direction is rare, in particular in Gonactinia prolifera and Nematostella vectensis.

Sexual reproduction is provided by both dioecious and hermaphroditic anemones. On the septa, which look like longitudinal swollen strands lying between the mesenteric filament and the retractor muscle, the gonads are located. Fertilization and development of eggs can occur both in the gastric cavity and in sea ​​water with external fertilization. Planula larvae, which may be planktotrophic or lecithotrophic, after a certain period of time (varied by different types), undergoes metamorphosis, turning into a new individual of sea anemone.

XI INTERNATIONAL REMOTE OLYMPIAD "ERUDIT" ON THE SUBJECT THE WORLD

Sample answers to tasks for grade 4

The maximum number of points for completed tasks is 100 points.

Task number 1 (max 20 points):

    Take a close look at the images of living organisms located in the table below.

    How do these organisms move? If you don't know exactly how you travel, then guess it.

    If any of these living organisms have different ways movement, be sure to point it out.

    If any organisms are familiar to you, write their names.

Image of a living organism

name of a living organism

Description of the mode of transportation

Single-celled animal "Infusoria slipper"

Moves due to the work of cilia located on the surface of the cell body. If you look closely, you can see them in this photo. It is the vibrations of the cilia located on the surface of the body of the infusorian shoe that allow it to move in space.

Starfish

Starfish use ambulacral legs to move. In these echinoderms, they can contract and stretch to a considerable length. The star throws its legs forward and sticks them to the bottom surface, and then reduces them by pulling your body. Thus it moves. The legs are driven by the pressure of the water pumped into them.

Jellyfish

The jellyfish is characterized by "jet propulsion", due to which it is capable of vertical movement. She draws water into herself and then pushes it out of the bell with force. Due to this, jellyfish move up or down, or diagonally, but, they are incapable of moving horizontally.

A jellyfish cannot move in a specific direction, so sea currents play a huge role in the movement of jellyfish.

Cuttlefish

The cuttlefish is characterized by "jet propulsion", it draws water into itself, and then pushes it out through a narrowed nozzle, while developing a significant speed (sometimes reaching up to 50 km / h).

For movement, cuttlefish also actively use a wave-like curving fin.

Lobster

Lobsters usually move along the bottom of the sea, using walking legs for this.

But frightened lobsters can make big jumps in the water in the opposite direction. To do this, they rapidly and powerfully rake in a tail equipped with blades. Such a jump will allow the lobster to instantly rebound from the source of danger at a distance of up to 7 meters.

Octopus. This animal belongs to the cephalopods.

The octopus is characterized by "jet propulsion". It can swim backwards with tentacles, setting itself in motion with a kind of “jet propulsion” - taking water into the cavity in which the gills are located, and pushing it with force in the direction opposite to the movement through a funnel that plays the role of a nozzle. The direction of movement of the octopus changes by turning the funnel.

On a hard surface, the octopus can crawl using tentacles with suction cups.

sea ​​anemone

Adult anemones lead a sedentary lifestyle. The mobile anemones are "settlement larvae" (it is they who are able to actively swim and perform a settling function).

Sometimes anemones enter into a symbiotic relationship, for example with a hermit crab. And then they have the opportunity to move in space at the expense of a partner - a symbiont.

Sea anemones living on soft substrates cannot attach to the ground, so they can slowly move along the substrate if necessary. At the same time, part of the fleshy sole comes off the ground, moves forward and is fixed there, and then the rest of the sole is pulled up.

Hydra freshwater. This animal belongs to the intestinal cavities.

Hydra freshwater is able to "walk". To do this, the hydra bends in the right direction until the tentacles touch the substrate on which it sits. Then, in literally stands on the "head" (that is, on the tentacles), and the sole - the opposite end of the body, is now on top. After that, the hydra again begins to bend its body in the right direction. Hydra moves in the right direction, as if tumbling.

As a rule, the hydra leads a sedentary lifestyle.

A very slow sliding of the sole along the mucus secreted by the cells of the sole is also possible.

Leech.

This animal belongs to the annelids.

There are three ways for a leech to move in space:

1. Movement with the help of "walking movements". The leech has two suckers. First, it pulls the body forward and attaches to the underwater object with the front suction cup. Then he releases the back sucker, pulls his body to the front end (front sucker).

2. The leech can also swim slowly, making undulating movements with its entire body due to its well-developed musculature.

3. Very common leech, adhering to a fish or an animal living in the water, it moves with the help of its “master”.

Scallop

The scallop is characterized by "jet motion", they move as if by jumping. The valves of scallop shells open sharply at first, and then close sharply. As a result, water is pushed out with force by two powerful jets from the "mantle cavity". It is these powerful jets that push the body of the mollusk forward.

Large sea crests are capable of jumping up to 50 cm.

W task number 2 (max 20 points):

You, like all Russian children, are probably very familiar with this cartoon character - a hedgehog lost in the fog. Most likely, you have seen a real, live hedgehog more than once in your life. But is it as familiar to you as it seems at first glance?

Answers on questions:

    What stocks does a hedgehog make for the winter?

The hedgehog does not stock up for the winter, as it hibernates in winter.

    Where does he hide them?

AND

Rice. No. 1: Hedgehog in the fog.

descending from the question to the first question "Nowhere".

    What does a hedgehog eat in a long and long winter?

Asleep. Is in a state of hibernation.

Additional explanation:

hedgehogs do not store food for the winter - neither apples, nor mushrooms, nor anything like that, since they are insectivorous animals.

In winter, the hedgehog is in hibernation. And during hibernation, the hedgehog uses its fat reserves accumulated in summer / autumn.

Task number 3 (max 20 points):

Answers to biological riddles:

    Who more legs: five octopuses or four squids?

The same number of legs.

Octopuses have 8 legs, i.e. 8*5=40,

Squids have 10 legs, i.e. 4*10=40

Therefore, the same number of legs, i.e. 40 feet.

    This animal has two right legs and two left legs, two legs in front and the same number in the back. How many legs does this animal have?

Four

    Which berries with the letter "M" are sweet, and those with the letter "K" are bitter?

"M" - raspberry

"K" - viburnum

    What kind of cereal can grow... on a person?

Barley on the eye

    Waist, which animal is the reference sample thin waist for all women?

Wasp waist (wasp waist)

    The name of which bird is heard all the time in the scaffolding?

Maina is a pink starling and a "get down!" construction team.

    « economic breed» dogs are

Dachshund breed (dachshund is a clearly established level of tariffs, prices, payments).

    Whose eyes are not afraid, but love to look at the sun?

Pansies (decorative flower).

    Name the climbing animals.

Geckos (reptiles)

    Which waterfowl wrote famous books?

Gogol

Task number 4 (max 10 points):

    Remember what you know about the structure of the human body.

    Look carefully at the table below.

    Distribute the organs of the human body according to their corresponding organ systems, using numbers and letters.

    You can simply enter the letters denoting organs in the column with organ systems.

Task number 5 (max 20 points):

    Take a close look at the matrix below and its clues.

    Fill in the matrix by entering the missing letters in the names of animals (animals).

    Pay attention to the fact that the names of all these animals end in -KA.

    Find out how well you know animals?

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w

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b

P

m

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m

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Task hints.

    An animal that looks like a mouse, but with a muzzle extended into the proboscis.

    One of the varieties bats with very wide ears.

    A shrew, the tops of whose teeth are painted brown-red.

    A rodent that lives in the steppes and deserts with a very short tail.

    A small red rodent, very similar to a rat, but with a tufted tail, living in the desert.

    Little monkey.

    Harvest mouse.

    A small rodent, similar to both a mouse and a jerboa, its tail is much longer than its body.

    The largest of the toothed whales.

    Barking pet.

    Meowing pet.

    Cute furry animal.

    Artificially bred fur animal.

    Small predatory animal.

Task number 6 (max 10 points):

Try to guess old, Russian, folk riddles.

sea ​​anemone- lat. Actiniaria, a representative of the type Coelenterates, belongs to the class of coral polyps. Anemones or sea anemones are solitary invertebrates.

Structure

Sea anemones have big amount smooth tentacles. The number of tentacles is a multiple of six. The number of septa in the gastrovascular cavity is also a multiple of six. The emergence of tentacles occurs gradually. Anemones can have many planes of symmetry, with a large number of tentacles and partitions.

Characteristics of the animal:

Height: The average height of sea anemones is 2-4 cm.

Diameter: The average diameter of sea anemones is 3-7 cm.

Colour: sea anemones have a colorful shape different colors, predominantly red and green color, rarely brown. Colorless sea anemones are also found.

Movement and nutrition

The movement is very slow and is carried out thanks to the muscular sole. Anemones are able to settle on the shells of hermit crabs, and live with them in symbiosis. Cancer plays the role of a vehicle. They mainly feed on mollusks, crayfish, small fish and other marine invertebrates, therefore, sea anemones are predatory animals.

Reproduction and habitation

Anemones are dioecious animals. The formation of the sex glands occurs in the partitions or tentacles. There are anemones in the northern seas, they can also be seen in the Black Sea.

Sources:

B.N. Orlov - Poisonous animals and plants of the USSR, 1990.

Anemones are large coral polyps that, unlike most other corals, have a soft body. Anemones are isolated in a separate detachment in the class coral polyps, in addition to corals, sea anemones are related to other intestinal animals - jellyfish. They received their second name, sea anemones, for their extraordinary beauty and resemblance with flowers.


Colony of solar anemones (Tubastrea coccinea)

The body of anemones consists of a cylindrical leg and a corolla of tentacles. The leg is formed by longitudinal and ring muscles, which allow the body of anemones to bend, shorten and stretch. The leg may have a thickening at the lower end - a pedal disc or a sole. In some sea anemones, the ectoderm ( skin covering) the legs secrete a hardening mucus, with which they stick to a solid substrate, in others it is wide and swollen, such species anchor in loose soil with the help of the sole. Even more amazing is the structure of the leg of the anemones of the genus Minyas: their sole has a bubble - a pneumocyst, which plays the role of a float. These sea anemones swim upside down in the water. The leg tissue consists of individual muscle fibers immersed in a mass of intercellular substance - mesoglea. The mesoglea can have a very thick, cartilage-like consistency, so the anemone's foot is firm to the touch.


Solitary solar anemone with translucent tentacles

At the upper end of the body, anemones have a mouth disk surrounded by one or more rows of tentacles. All tentacles of one row are the same, but in different rows they can vary greatly in length, structure and color.


Deep sea anemone (Urticina felina)

In general, the body of anemones is radially symmetrical, in most cases it can be divided into 6 parts, according to this feature they are even referred to as a subclass of Six-pointed corals. The tentacles are armed with stinging cells that can fire thin venomous filaments. The mouth opening of anemones can be round or oval. It leads to the pharynx, which opens into a blindly closed gastric cavity (a kind of stomach).


Often at the ends of the tentacles one can see swellings formed by clusters of stinging cells.

Anemones are rather primitive animals; they do not have complex sense organs. Their nervous system represented by groups of sensitive cells located at vital points - around the oral disc, at the base of the tentacles and on the sole. Nerve cells are specialized for different types external influences. So, nerve cells on the soles of the anemones are sensitive to mechanical influences, but do not respond to chemical ones, and the nerve cells near the oral disc, on the contrary, distinguish substances, but do not respond to mechanical stimuli.


Vesicle-shaped thickenings at the ends of the tentacles of the four-colored entacme (Entacmaea quadricolor)

The body of most anemones is naked, but tubular sea anemones have a chitinous outer covering, so their leg looks like a tall, hard tube. In addition, some species may include grains of sand and other building material in their ectoderm that strengthens their integuments. The color of anemones is very diverse, even representatives of the same species can have a different shade. These animals are characterized by all the colors of the rainbow - red, pink, yellow, orange, green, brown, white. Often the tips of the tentacles have a contrasting coloration, which makes them colorful. The sizes of anemones fluctuate over a very wide range. The smallest anemone gonactinia (Gonactinia prolifera) has a height of only 2-3 mm, and the diameter of the oral disc is 1-2 mm. The largest carpet anemone can reach a diameter of 1.5 m, and the sausage metridium anemone (Metridium farcimen) reaches a height of 1 m!

The carpet anemone (Stoichactis haddoni) has tiny wart-like tentacles but can be up to 1.5 m in diameter.

Anemones are common in all seas and oceans of our planet. The largest number of species is concentrated in tropical and subtropical zone, but these animals can also be found in the polar regions. For example, anemone metridium senile, or sea carnation, is found in all seas of the Arctic Ocean basin.

Cold-water sea anemone metridium senile, or sea carnation (Metridium senile)

Anemone habitats cover all depths: from the surf zone, where during low tide anemones can literally be on land, and to the very depths of the ocean. Of course, few species live at a depth of more than 1000 m, but they have adapted to this hostile environment. Despite the fact that anemones are purely marine animals, some species tolerate a little desalination. So, 4 species are known in the Black Sea, and one is found even in the Sea of ​​Azov.

Deep sea anemones (Pachycerianthus fimbriatus)

Anemones that live in shallow water often contain microscopic algae in their tentacles, which give them a greenish tint and partly supply their hosts. nutrients. Such sea anemones live only in illuminated places and are active mainly during the day, since they depend on the intensity of photosynthesis of green algae. Other species, on the contrary, do not like light. Anemones living in the tidal zone have a clear daily rhythm associated with periodic flooding and drainage of the territory.

Anthopleura anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) live in symbiosis with green algae

In general, all types of sea anemones can be divided into three groups according to their lifestyle: sessile, swimming (pelagic) and burrowing. The vast majority of species belong to the first group, only sea anemones of the genus Minyas are swimming, and only sea anemones of the genera Edwardsia, Haloclava, Peachia have a burrowing lifestyle.

This green sea anemone lives in the Philippines

Sedentary sea anemones, despite their name, are able to move slowly. Usually anemones move when something does not suit them in the old place (in search of food, due to insufficient or excessive lighting, etc.). To do this, they use several methods. Some sea anemones bend their body and attach themselves to the ground with their mouth disk, after which they tear off the leg and rearrange it to a new place. This head-to-foot tumbling is similar to the way sedentary jellyfish move. Other anemones move only the sole, alternately tearing off its different parts from the ground. Finally, the Aiptasia anemones fall on their side and crawl like worms, alternately contracting different areas legs.

Single pipe anemone

This mode of movement is also close to burrowing species. Burrowing anemones don't actually dig that much, most of the time they sit in one place, and they are called burrowers for their ability to burrow deep into the ground, so that only the corolla of tentacles sticks out from the outside. To dig a mink, the sea anemone resorts to a trick: it draws water into the gastric cavity and closes the mouth opening. Then, alternately pumping water from one end of the body to the other, it, like a worm, deepens into the ground.

The highest sea anemone is Metridium sausage (Metridium farcimen)

Small sessile gonactinia can sometimes swim by rhythmically moving its tentacles (such movements are similar to the contractions of the dome of a jellyfish). Floating sea anemones rely more on the strength of currents and are held passively on the surface of the water by pneumocysts.

Lush colony of sea carnations (metridiums)

Anemones are solitary polyps, but in favorable conditions they can form large clusters similar to flowering gardens. Most anemones are indifferent to their fellows, but some have a quarrelsome "character". Such species, upon contact with a neighbor, use stinging cells; upon contact with the enemy's body, they cause necrosis of his tissues. But sea anemones are often "friends" with other animal species. The most striking example is the symbiosis (cohabitation) of sea anemones and amphiprions, or clown fish. Clownfish take care of the sea anemone, cleaning it of unnecessary debris and food debris, sometimes picking up the remains of its prey; the anemone, in turn, eats up what is left of the amphiprion prey. Also, tiny shrimp often act as cleaners and freeloaders, which find shelter from enemies in the tentacles of anemones.

Shrimp in the tentacles of a giant sea anemone (Condylactis gigantea)

The cooperation of hermit crabs with anemones adamsias has gone even further. Adamsia generally live independently only in young age, and then they are picked up by hermit crabs and attached to the shells that serve as their home. Crayfish attach the sea anemone not only as if, but precisely with the mouth disk forward, thanks to this, the sea anemone is always provided with food particles that fall to it from the sand stirred up by the cancer. In turn, the hermit crab receives reliable protection from its enemies in the face of anemones. Moreover, every time he transfers the sea anemone from one shell to another when he changes his house. If the crayfish does not have sea anemones, he tries to find it in any way, and more often to take it away from a happier fellow.

Anemones perceive their prey differently. Some species swallow everything that only touches their hunting tentacles (pebbles, paper, etc.), others spit out inedible objects. These polyps feed on a variety of animal food: some species play the role of filter feeders, extracting the smallest food particles and organic debris from the water, others kill larger prey - small fish that inadvertently approached the tentacles. Anemones, living in symbiosis with algae, feed mostly on their green "friends". During the hunt, the sea anemone keeps its tentacles straightened, and when it is sated, it hides them in a tight lump, hiding behind the edges of the body. Sea anemones shrink into a ball and in case of danger or when drying on the shore (during low tide), well-fed individuals can be in this state for many hours.

A colony of sun anemones hiding their tentacles

Sea anemones can reproduce asexually and sexually. Asexual reproduction is carried out through longitudinal division, when the body of an anemone is divided into two individuals. Only the most primitive gonactinia has a transverse division, when a mouth grows in the middle of the leg, and then it breaks up into two independent organisms. In some anemones, a kind of budding can be observed, when several young organisms are separated from the sole at once. Ability to asexual reproduction causes a high ability to regenerate tissues: sea anemones easily restore cut off parts of the body.

The same solar anemones, but with extended tentacles

Most sea anemones have separate sexes, although outwardly males do not differ from females. Only in some species can both male and female germ cells be formed at the same time. Spermatozoa and eggs are formed in the mesoglea of ​​sea anemones, but fertilization can occur both in external environment and in the gastric cavity. Anemone larvae (planula) move freely in the water column for the first week of life and during this time they are carried by currents over long distances. In some sea anemones, planulae develop in special pockets on the mother's body.

Touching the tentacles of large sea anemones can cause painful stinging cell burns, but deaths are unknown. Some types of anemones (carpet, horse or strawberry, etc.) are kept in aquariums.

About the animals included in the order Actiniaria. The name of the animals comes from the name of the earth flower, anemone.

If the classification is checked, sea anemones are included in the class Anthozoa, a type of cnidarians and a subclass of six-pointed corals. This animal is known to the world because of its symbiotic relationship with fish.

From the commonwealth with fish, sea anemones benefit - improved gas exchange and nutrition (food that remains after the meal of the fish).

A symbiosis has also developed between sea anemones and crabs of the genus Lybia. Boxer crabs use the stinging anemone polyps for their own defense against predators. Crabs pick up sea anemones and hold them as a shield. Anemones, in turn, thanks to crabs get mobility, because they cannot move independently.

Here are some interesting facts about sea anemones:

Anemones, like all other cnidarians, have mesoglea in their body - a jelly-like substance. Anemones have a close relationship with corals, hydra, and jellyfish.

Anemones are able to decorate any aquarium. For commercial purposes, sea anemones are treated as a collection for the aquarium. Thus, the anemone trade is increasing.

These Marine life have an amazing range of color diversity. Their vitreous bodies are always bright and tender.

Anemone size.

The diameter can reach 1.8 - 3 cm. The largest sea anemones have a span of 2 meters. The smallest barely reach 4 mm.

The mouth of an anemone functions like an anus. The function of capturing and catching prey. The location of the mouth is the center of the disc cavity. And several tentacles are located around the mouth.

Anemones are harmless and harmless animals. sea ​​anemone not dangerous to humans. However, some species of sea anemones have a toxin capable of causing burns to humans.

Anemones feed on fish, mollusks and small marine animals. Peaceful anemones are calm individuals: they eat everything that floats in the water. However, they distinguish between edible food and non-edible food.

  • In the neighborhood of sea anemones live those fish and shellfish that are insensitive to their poison.
  • For large and predatory fish, anemones serve as a place of camouflage and shelter.

This animal, the sea anemone, is completely different from other cnidarians in its way of life. They have the disadvantage of free swimming, like jellyfish do. They differ from corals in that they do not live in colonies, in groups, but one at a time - they prefer to live alone.

Life cycle of an anemone. The polyp comes from Planula after the egg, fertilized by the sperm, begins to divide.

Asexual reproduction is also characteristic of sea anemones. In some species of anemones, division is the result of
asexual reproduction.

Most anemones live in one place all the time. However, they may move to another place if it is not suitable for them to live. They move if predators pester them or the location faces prolonged dryness. To get to a new place, they use movements that resemble crawling.


The sea anemone can be consumed as food. It is used as a delicacy in southwestern Spain and southern Italy.

Sea anemones are often served battered or marinated in vinegar.

The anemone animal really looks like a flower. They were called anemones, but for some it resembles an aster. Researchers of the deep sea counted one and a half thousand various kinds anemone.

Cut into pieces, sea anemones demonstrate their remarkable ability to reproduce and regenerate.

In one row, all anemone tentacles are the same in color, structure and length. however, they may differ in different rows.