For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sea Anemone

I was right in saying this was a difficult one although a few people guessed it was something from the sea so they were on the right track.
This is going to be the last Mystery Monday for a while. Thank you everyone for playing. It has been fun!!

The ornately colored sea anemone is named after the equally flashy terrestrial anemone flower.

A close relative of coral and jellyfish, anemones are stinging polyps that spend most of their time attached to rocks on the sea bottom or on coral reefs waiting for fish to pass close enough to get ensnared in their venom-filled tentacles.Their bodies are composed of an adhesive pedal disc, or foot, a cylindrical body, and an array of tentacles surrounding a central mouth. The tentacles are triggered by the slightest touch, firing a harpoon-like filament into their victim and injecting a paralyzing neurotoxin. The helpless prey is then guided into the mouth by the tentacles.