[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Beadlet Anemone is probably the most familiar anemone found on Ireland´s shores.
This anemone is extremely well-adapted to life on the shore. It catches its prey with the stinging tentacles and passes it to its mouth.
Did you know that they are able to move by sliding the base along the substratum?
They have even been shown to slowly move away from predators such as sea-slugs when facing attack. They are also aggressive to neighbouring Beadlet Anemones. When the tentacles of two adjacent anemones come into contact, one will sting the other, leading to the other individual being forced to move away!
Amazingly, Beadlet Anemone is the only species of anemone to brood their young (viviparous reproduction). The anemone begins as a planktonic larval stage where it crawls out of its parent and is free in the ocean for a short period of time. After that, it enters the cavity of another sea anemone and further develops. Once the juvenile anemone is ready to be "born", the "parent" anemone catapults the new individual through the water where it lands and secures itself on solid substrate!
You can find these amazing creatures in rockpools near you. When exposed at low tide, they appear as bright red blobs of jelly, but when feeding up to 192 beautiful stinging tentacles emerge, arranged in 6 circles around the mouth. Although it uses poison to sting their prey, its toxin is not dangerous to people.
And what is your favourite rockpool species? Let us know!
Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:42 pm