Wildlife of The Solway Firth [96] – The Beadlet Anemone
Wildlife of The Solway Firth [96]
The Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina)
by Mark Vollers, The Lake District Coast Aquarium, Maryport
This has to be one of the hardiest of our native anemones, up to 5 cm in diameter and generally bright red, sometimes brown or green and with numerous tentacles.
Many also have bright blue spots in a ring below the tentacles, these are called acrorhagi and are packed full of stinging cells which it uses to defend its territory from other anemones.
They are rarely found below the low tide mark, but attach to rocks and hard surfaces intertidally both in pools and where exposed to the air. In the latter situation as the tide falls it withdraws its tentacles and is seen as a jelly like blob, often in a crevice. Under these circumstances it successfully endures extreme cold, heat, desiccation and wave action, so little wonder it is normally easy to find an example on any rocky beach.
Their tentacles, up to 192 of them, are used in conjunction with stinging cells or nematocysts to hold and capture prey such as small fish and crustaceans. A gentle touch with our fingers provides a sticky sensation but our skin is too tough to feel this venom.
Reproduction can be sexual or asexual, with adults brooding up to 100 embryos in their gastrovascular cavity before venting them out as fully formed miniatures to disperse and settle elsewhere.
We always have some examples in our aquarium, they are descendants of the original population we introduced when the aquarium opened in 1997!
Visit the Lake District Coast Aquarium facebook page to learn more about amazing wildlife on the Solway Coast.
www.facebook.com/maryport.aquarium
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