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June 27, 2000

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    Yes, its another creature Tuesday and this picture comes from the Oregon coast. This is a Sea Anemone. You can find these down in the rocks and crevices of the tide pools. These things hang around and wait for small fish to swim close enough and they grab them with their tentacles. 
Sea Anemones are animals, and not plants. They have a mouth, and use their stinging tentacles to stun prey and shuffle tid-bits towards the mouth. They can survive without Anemonefish, although Anemonefish cannot survive without them. Those that house anemonefish do not sting their boarders. Many studies have been carried out to determine how this is possible, but the most commonly accepted reason is that the Anemonefish coats its scales in mucus from the host, tricking the host into thinking it is just a part of it. "Eww, mucus."