Sea Life Deep Sea Fishes Sea Turtles Green Sea Turtles Hawksbill Sea Turtles Sea Lion Sea Monkeys Sea Otter Sea Birds Seahorses Sea Snakes Sea Dragons Sea Eagles Sea Anemone Sea Bass Sea Whales In the Sea Sea Shells Sea Sponges Sea Caves Sea Coral Sea Cucumbers Sea Pictures and Wallpapers Pictures of the Sea Sea Wallpapers Other Sea Information Deep Sea Diving Deep Sea Research Marine Biology Naval Sea Systems Sea Exploration Sea Grape Sea Level Rise Oceans and Seas Indian Ocean Southern Ocean Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean Pacific Ocean Baltic Sea The Aral Sea The Caspian Sea Japan Sea Red Sea Okhotsk Sea North Sea Dead Sea Yellow Sea Caribbean Sea Andaman Sea Mediterranean Sea Black Sea Barents Sea Kara Sea Sea Anemone Cribrinopsis fernaldi Although Sea Anemones look like flowers, they are predatory animals. These invertebrates have no skeleton at all. They live attached to firm objects in the seas, usually the sea floor, rock, or coral, but they can slide around very slowly. Sea anemones are very long lived. Hermit crabs sometimes attach sea anemones to their shells for camouflage. Habitat and Distribution : There are over 1000 species of anemones found in coastal waters worldwide, in shallow waters (including coral reefs), and in deep oceans. Mutualism : Clown fish always live near anemones; they are immune from (and protected by) the stinging tentacles. The clown fish help the anemone by cleaning the tentacles (as the fish eat detritus) and perhaps by scaring away predators. Anatomy : Sea Anemones come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Radially symmetric, they have a columnar body with a single body opening, the mouth, which is surrounded by tentacles. The tentacles protect the anemone and catch its food; they are studded with microscopic stinging capsules. Sea Anemones are usually about 1 to 4 inches (2.5-10 cm) across, but a few grow to be 6 feet (1.8 m) across. Diet : Sea Anemones are carnivores that eat fish, mussels, zooplankton (like copepods, other small crustaceans, and tiny marine larvae), and worms. They catch food using the tentacles, which have poisonous stingers (called nematocysts). Predators : Sea Anemones are eaten by very few animals. Their predators include the Grey Sea Slug and the Tompot Blenny. Reproduction : Sea Anemones reproduce by lateral fission (in which an identical animal sprouts out of the anemone's side) and by sexual reproduction (in which anemones release eggs and sperm, producing free-swimming larvae).