Anyone who has seen this amazing creature is primarily interested in: is sea anemone an animal or a plant? Many are misled by the definition of this creature - “sea anemone”: yet most people know that anemone is a flower. The amazingly beautiful marine inhabitants, who managed to adapt to life in the form of rather vulnerable organisms, amaze the imagination: you just want to take them away with you, protect and shelter. Not worth it! First of all, it is not for nothing that sometimes these creatures are called “jellyfish-sea anemone”: they are quite capable of standing up, and not only for themselves. And secondly, you are unlikely to succeed in creating suitable living conditions for them. So, being at the resort, just enjoy their view and try not to swim too close so as not to heal after rather painful burns.
Appearance
It is the appearance of these creatures that raises the eternal question: is sea anemone an animal or a plant? And by the way, until the end of the 19th century they attributed them to plant species. However, science does not stand still: it was found that “sea anemones” are animals that are close in structure and lifestyle to jellyfish and other intestinal cavities, to which many biologists rank sea sponges and ctenophores.
If to explain primitively, then any sea anemone (photos are presented) is one continuous mouth on a leg. Flower-like “petals” are the tentacles responsible for delivering food. Most often, the "stand" has a flat sole, which "sea anemones" are attached to a rock or hard bottom; but there are species with a pointed limb - they are stuck in the bottom like a bouquet; but there are floating varieties. Observing the behavior of these creatures, you will no longer be puzzled: is sea anemone an animal or a plant? It immediately becomes clear that she is not just an animal - she is a predator.
Sea anemones are not polyps
It would also be wrong to say that this is a beautiful creature - coral. Sea anemone, without a doubt, is very close to the polyps that form the islands that fascinate everyone. However, their skeleton does not form, and after all, corals are skeletons of polyps. At the same time, one cannot say that sea anemone is “soft-body”, since the substance filling the space between cells in it forms a very thick layer and in density resembles cartilage in vertebrates.
What do they eat?
Another argument in doubt, anemone is an animal or a plant - its diet. If those who are interested remember, plants feed on water (with substances dissolved in it) and what they can get from the soil. However, sea anemones prefer a completely different menu. It includes small invertebrates and small fish (if you're lucky). The method of food production is also absolutely non-vegetative: tentacles paralyze the prey and pull it to the mouth opening. Some may object: carnivorous plants are also known . This is true, however, they cannot boast of a mouth and dissolve prey with enzymes located directly on a leaf plate or in a flower trap. That is, they do not have organs designed exclusively for digestion.
Impact on the victim
If we even assume that anemone is a plant, then we must look for an explanation of its method of hunting. In each stinging cell - albeit very, very small - there is a kind of capsule in which the poison is contained. And from the outside there is a stinging thread with spikes facing back. Visually, under a microscope, this entire device resembles a miniature harpoon. When an anemone attacks, the thread straightens, the needle sticks into the victim's body and releases the poison. Not a single plant has such a complex structure - they are significantly lower in the evolutionary ladder and have a much simpler structure.
Incidentally, the stinging poison of anemone is dangerous even for such a large organism as a person. Of course, he will not lead to a fatal outcome, however, burning with itching will provide, and in some cases, necrosis develops. Those who regularly communicate with gentle "anemones", almost all polls have allergies.
Famous symbiosis
I must say that most sea flowers lead a fixed lifestyle. However, renewal of hunting grounds is what any anemone needs. Movement is usually carried out through symbionts. The most famous of them (familiar from the Soviet touching cartoon) is hermit crab. The most interesting thing is that this armored inhabitant of the seas itself transfers to its “shell” a creature mortally dangerous for mollusks. For quite a long time they coexist peacefully: cancer carries a sea flower from place to place, sea anemone reflects the attacks undertaken by its natural enemies. However, everything is not so cloudless: the “leg” of the sea “flower” easily dissolves the organics of which the shell of the carrier consists, after which the cancer comes to an end.
The movement of "sea anemones"
Even those sea anemones, which are intended by nature to "sit" in place, can move. In the end, the small inhabitants of the oceans, as the people say, are “no dumber than a steam locomotive” and eventually realize the danger of some kind of near-bottom terrain. Accordingly, ocean flowers are forced to migrate, as their hunting grounds are impoverished. What, then, is the average actinium doing? Her movement is slow, but confident. The sole is separated from the bottom, extends a small distance, fixed and tightens the rest of the body. However, small species (such as gonactinia) can even swim, straightening the tentacles back.
Actinium fish cooperation
I must say, ocean anemones are not only symbiotic with hermit crabs. They travel to other shells (however, for carriers this usually ends the same way, even in the case of small varieties). However, sea anemones can coexist quite peacefully with fish. Off the Australian coast, the largest sea anemones on earth (their "mouth" is often not limited to a 1.5-meter diameter) give shelter among their tentacles to amphiprions - very bright fish that feed the "owner" with the fallen food leftovers and create additional aeration for them with the work of the fins. At the same time, sea anemones are quite capable of distinguishing their friends from other fish and actively protecting them from predatory encroachments.
Reproduction of sea anemones
They give preference to the sexual method, which is another proof that sea flowers are animals, not plants. However, under adverse conditions, they can use budding, in which you begin to recall the fallacy about "anemone - plant", and longitudinal or transverse division. This is especially true for small varieties. The same gonactinium tends to split across. It is extremely interesting to watch: the first thing a wreath of tentacles grows around the circumference of the body, and then it is divided. The upper half grows a sole for itself, the lower half grows into a “mouth” and one more set is chiselled. It is noteworthy that the second division does not wait for the end of the first, so that anemone of this species can be encircled by several rings of tentacles, portending the imminent appearance of several individuals.
To check whether anemone is an animal or a plant, you can also use your own example. Sea anemones do not regard a person as an enemy or as prey. So with a human touch, they simply collapse (if you do not fiddle with them, of course). We can say hiding. As for the rest, sea anemone (photos demonstrate this) is a very beautiful and interesting creature, which is interesting to even just watch.