1. Clownfish and Anemones
Colorful clownfish swim among an array of sea anemones. Anemones appear in an enchanting variety of shapes and colours, but these simple invertebrates are essentially tube-like animals. One end of an anemone’s body is attached to or dug into the seafloor, while the other hosts a mouth surrounded by tentacles.
2. Anemone and Hermit Crab
Some anemones piggyback on the shells of hermit crabs. The manoeuvre is mutually beneficial: The anemones get a mobile, competition-free surface on which to perch and pick up scraps, and the crabs get an effective camouflage and protection provided by the sea anemone’s toxic tentacles.
3. Pink Anemonefish
Many fish are wise to give sea anemones a wide berth, lest they feel their venomous sting, but a mucus layer allows anemonefish to acclimatize themselves to the tentacles’ toxins. These fish thrive under anemone protection, and they pay their hosts back by eating parasites and stirring water circulation with their fins.
4. Tube Anemone
Anemones may look like flowers but they are animals - and many are carnivorous predators. They sting fish and other prey with tentacles armed with hollow, harpoon like filaments that deliver toxic venom. The anemone then uses its tentacles to pull its paralyzed meal into its central mouth.
5. Carpet Sea Anemones
This aptly named carpet sea anemone has completely covered underlying coral with a vibrant green shag. Anemones like this one living in sun-drenched waters often host green algae. By providing the plant with a safe pasture, the anemone benefits from the by-products of algae photosynthesis - sugar and oxygen.
6. Shrimp and Anemone
A transparent shrimp lurks nearly unseen amid the tentacles of a sea anemone. An anemone’s tentacles surround a central mouth, which feeds the invertebrate’s single body cavity. That one cavity performs the roles of the stomach, intestines, lungs, circulatory system, and other critical bodily systems.
7. Anemones on Kelp Stalks
Proliferating anemones cling to kelp stalks near the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. While most anemones prefer to attach themselves to immovable objects, others adorn crab shells, loose rocks, or plants.
8. Pink Sea Anemone
An anemone’s colourful “blossom” makes it clear why the animals were named after terrestrial flowers. And like flowers these invertebrates generally stay put - stuck to seafloor rocks or coral reefs. But when need arises, many anemones can move, detaching to drift with the currents or, in some cases, “swimming” short distances with an awkward stroke.
9. Snail and Sea Anemones
A snail crawls across a group of jewel sea anemones off the Irish coast. Anemones can be tiny, a mere half an inch (1.25 centimetres) across, or as large as 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. Life spans are difficult to determine, but some species are known to live more than half a century.
10. Jewel Sea Anemones
The jewel anemone, pictured here, is just one of more than a thousand sea anemone species. These close relatives of coral and jellyfish are found in ocean waters all over the world, from shallow tidal zones to depths of 33,000 feet (10,000 meters).
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