Anemones
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Clown anemone fish at home |
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Large carpet anemone with a resident pink anemone fish - an example of a symbiotic relatonship |
An anemone resembles a very large single coral polyp without a skeleton.
Like hard corals, anemones' tentacles occur in multiples of six.
They are loaded with stinging cells (nematocysts) which can paralyse fish but only a few species are capable of penetrating human skin.
The bottom of the anemone is attached by a special disc but is capable of moving around by sliding very slowly over rocks and dead coral.
Many have resident zooxanthellae and grow best in shallow, sunny waters.
Tube anemones usually feed at night and can retreat out of sight into tubes burrowed quite deep in the sand.
