Giant Purple-Urchin Eater - Giant Green Anemone
by KJ Swan
Title
Giant Purple-Urchin Eater - Giant Green Anemone
Artist
KJ Swan
Medium
Photograph
Description
This beautiful cnidarian is a predatory giant green anemone which uses the nematocysts (stinging cells) found on its tentacles to paralyze and bring prey to its mouth, digest, then spit out the indigestible parts.
This Anemone gets most of its green coloring through a special symbiotic relationship it enjoys with marine microalgae (zoochlorellae) and dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) which live in it's tissues and provides the anemone nourishment. Algae needs sunlight to thrive so those anemones which anchored in the shade often look pale, even white.
Found from Alaska to Panama, they eat detached mussels, crabs, small fishes and purple urchins.
Uploaded
October 20th, 2020
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