Viatouch Teacher Articles
Science

Flowers of the Sea
by Randi Lynn Mrvos

What looks like a flower, but lives in the sea? Pluck a petal and OUCH—it stings!
It's a sea anemone. But, a sea anemone is not a flower or even a plant. It's a meat-
eating, jelly-like animal that is closely related to corals and jellyfish. Sea anemones
are invertebrates or animals that lack a backbone.

No Brainer
Sea anemones have no eyes, ears, or a brain! So how do they stay alive? An anemone
has nerves in its body wall that communicate between different parts of its body. Even without a brain, a sea anemone can catch food and defend itself. It can spot newcomers from established neighbors that have been living together in a shared space.

Home Sweet Home
Some anemones burrow in sand or live near the shore. Different species attach themselves to rocks, coral, wharves, and hard surfaces. Others live as deep as 10,000 meters (about 6 miles) in the sea. Sea anemones are found world-wide. Most live alone, but some form large colonies.

Looks Can Be Deceiving
Sea anemones can grow from 1 inch to 3 feet in diameter. They have a flat upper surface with a mouth in the center. The mouth is crowned by flower petal-like tentacles. The body is stalk-like and rests on a flat base. Anemones can move slowly by sliding their bases along the surface of rocks. They come in many colors such as salmon pink, emerald green, blue-green, amber, and purple. But beware! Though they look like harmless sea flowers, sea anemones are actually poisonous animals.

Can't Touch This
The tentacles of a sea anemone are covered with thousands of stinging capsules, which can be released to catch prey. Each capsule has a thread that carries small amounts of poison. When a small fish or shrimp or crab touch the tentacles—ZAP! Hundreds of barbed threads fling and inject their poison into the skin of the prey. The victim is captured by the anemone like a harpooned whale. Tentacles are also wicked weapons. When sea anemones compete for territory, they club and sting each other with their tentacles.

I'm Warning You
Some marine slugs like to nibble on the tentacles of anemones. But when an anemone
is attacked, it produces a chemical. The chemical is sent out into the sea as an alarm
to other anemones. When sea anemones sense the chemical, they can withdraw their tentacles to prevent slugs from feeding on them. Also, as the slug feasts on a tentacle,
it ingests and stores large amounts of the chemical in its body. It releases the substance
in the sea for about five days. Like an early-warning device, the slug alerts other anemones wherever it goes to pull in their tentacles.

Tearing Myself Apart
Many sea anemones can clone themselves or make identical copies of themselves. Some species snap off a small part of their base. The smaller piece then grows into another adult anemone. Other species crawl in two different directions and slowly rip themselves in half!

Odd Couples
Anemones and clownfish live together peacefully as partners. Clownfish swim without fear among the tentacles. They wear a special coat of slime that keeps them from being stung. Anemones protect clownfish and provide leftover food. In return, clownfish attract prey for the stinging flowers of the sea.

Want to learn more about sea anemones? Check out these websites:
http://www.milton.edu/academics/pages/marinebio/anemones.html
http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Cnidaria/Actiniaria
http://www.seasky.org/reeflife/sea2b3.html
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/anemones/anemones.htm

To color an anemone, visit this website:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/seaanemone/Seaanemoneprintout.shtml

Bibliography

Agosta, William. Chemical Communication: The Language of Pheromones. NY: Scientific American Library, 1992.

"Alien Stingers, a new permanent exhibit at the New York Aquarium, features elegant and unearthly sea jellies, anemones, and coral". Science Activities. Spring 2003 v40 i1 p5.

Dossenbach, Hans. Beware, We are Poisonous! CT: Blackbirch Press, Inc., 1999.

Gordon, David. "Sea Buddies". National Geographic World, Jan 1999 i281 p22.

Hanson, Jeanne and Deane Morrison. Of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs, and the oddest and most wonderful mammals, insects, birds, and plants of our world. NY: HarperCollins, 1991.

Lambeth, Ellen. "Sea Anemones". Ranger Rick, Nov 1995 v29 n11 p10.

Lovett, Sarah. Extremely Weird Sea Creatures. NM: John Weir Publications, 1992.

Madin, Kate. Down to a Sunless Sea. TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Co., 2000.

Nichols, David and John A.L. Cooke. The Oxford Book of Invertebrates. NY: Oxford University Press, 1979.

Parker, Steve. Seashore. NY: DK Publishing, Inc., 2004.

Internet Sources:
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/cnidarians.htm
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/animals/cnidaria.html
http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/notes/anemones.html

Photo courtesy of Animal World

Randi is a freelancer writer, who has written articles for homeschooling magazines, as well as children's, writers', parenting, and scientific publications. Mrvos is a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), a columnist for The Creativity Connection, and an editor for Viatouch.com, an educational website for teachers and students. She lives in Lexington, KY with her husband, Jim, and her eleven-year old daughter, Abby. Randi invites you to visit her website at:
http://Randi.Lynn.Mrvos.home.insightbb.com.