Friday, January 27, 2017

Comparing anemones

One basic capture and swallow system, three different styles.

A head full of hair. Metridium senile.

M. senile adheres to rocks, boulders, man-made structures, pebbles and shells. It favours places where the current is strong. (Wikipedia)

No matter where I put "Metty's" shell, she moves back under the pump again. She likes that current. But she is extremely sensitive to touch and shrinks back into a lump if anything too big brushes her tentacles.

Pink fringe. Pink-tipped green anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima

There are four of these in my tank. They spend most of their time on the oyster shells, near the sand and out of the strongest current. They get walked on all the time, and don't like it much, but never move to a "safe" place.

Long, fleshy tentacles, very sensitive, sticky. Doesn't bother hermit crabs, but gives shore crabs a nasty sting. "Val", the burrowing anemone, Anthopleura artemisia.

"Val" seems to like being jammed into a corner. She sticks to the glass underneath the sand, so has to put up with the weekly tank scrub, instead of being moved to a safe place. She doesn't seem to mind all kinds of action around her, even being mounded with sand; she keeps on feeding throughout the procedure.

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