Giant Green Sea Anenome
Sarah Muller Period 1
The Worlds Largest Anemone
The giant green sea anemone is the largest anemone and can grow to a diameter of 10 inches at times! This organism can be found along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Panama. One could find this organism attached to rocks, the sea floor, or coral in tide pools. But don't be fooled, these organisms can slide to move around at very slow speeds. These little guys reproduce both sexually and asexually as well.
Daily Changes
When the tide is out anemones relax and "droop" until disturbed or until the tide returns. This is a result of desiccation due to the loss of water, when this happens the tentacles will curl inward for protection until the tide returns. Another daily struggle for the sea anemone is the harsh wave action and tides. Due to extreme exposure of the sun when the tide is gone the sea anemone could face harsh temperature changes.
Deeper Knowledge
Adaptations
As you can see the giant green sea anemone has long tentacles, these tentacles are used to sting and paralyze it's prey. Then it pulls the food into its mouth at the center of it's crown. This organism is able to change colors based upon the amount of sunlight it receives. When exposed to large amounts of sunlight its shows a bright green color, whereas when its in the shade its almost white in color. This organism also has no skeleton what so ever!
Prey vs Predator
The giant green sea anemone preys on crabs, small fish, , sea starts, sea urchins, and detached mussels. However it has multiple predators including: the leather seastar, the nudibranch, and the snail which feed on the tentacles. In addition to this another specie of the snail and the sea spider feed on the column.
Interesting Facts
Something I didn't think was possibly was for a compound from the giant green sea anemone to be used as a heart stimulant. In addition to this some fish develop a immunity to the stinging touch by covering themselves in mucus which sounds gross, but is a good adaption to me. This wasn't named the giant green sea anemone just for kicks and giggles. The bright green color is actually from algae, and is intensified when in sunlight, resulting in the bright color.