In the effort to deter predators the anemone will first fire its nematocysts.

The aggregating anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima, dominates Santa Barbara's rocky shoreline from sea level to 2.5 feet above sea level, not because it is a good competitor for space, but because the sea star has removed all mussels and most everything else with a shell (barnacles, snails, limpets). A. elegantissima is preyed upon by at least one species of nudibranch, pleurobranch, sea star, shark and fish.

A. elegantissima itself is food to at least one nudibranch, a pleurobranch, a sea star, a shark and a fish.

Asexual division often occurs in the fall and winter seasons, followed by spawning in the spring and summer seasons. The photo below is a small group of Aggregating Anemones under water and open. While aggregating anemones are considered to be sessile organisms, this doesn’t mean … Aggregating anemones do not need to find food; it comes to them constantly, as the current carries tiny crustaceans and other animals past their tentacles. Aggregating anemone (Photo by Stephen Grace) Multiple copies of one genetic individual help ensure survival amid the violence of the intertidal zone. The aggregating anemone can even ingest small crabs and spew out the shells.

Though sea anemones look like the most sessile (stationery) of all animals, they are able to move about on their "pedal disks"- the foot or base of the anemone - to escape encroaching sand or predators or invaders. …

Aggregating anemones can reproduce by spawning or asexual division (also known as binary fission).

The sea star does not prefer to eat (or even touch) the anemones, so the anemones exist here without a … Flood and drought cycle daily, salinity and temperature fluctuate wildly, and the creatures that inhabit this brutal world are battered by waves and scorched by sun as they evade predators and struggle for scarce space and limited food. Small debris, such as sand and pieces of shells, adheres to these bumps, providing protection to aggregating anemones when they are out of water at low tide. Aggregating Anemone Anthopleura elegantissima. Hansville, WA - When walking the beaches of the intertidal zone, I often feel like I'm stepping on someone... or someones. Asexual division creates colonies of …

Stinging cells (nematocysts) on its tentacles paralyze prey.

There are some creatures who make it especially difficult because they tend to grow in colonies.… All they have to do is capture prey by stinging it with the nematocysts (also called cnidocytes) on the surface of their tentacles. These tiny but complex cells, when stimulated, evert their contents and throw out a barb armed with toxins to immobilize the prey. If that doesn’t work, the animal will try to crawl away (this must be painfully slow) or will detach its pedal disk from the bottom and float away. Physical Description. To deter predators, the anemone will first fire its nematocysts. The intertidal zone consists of worlds within worlds and if I avoid one, I invariably step on another. If that doesn’t work, the anemone will try to crawl away (this must be …