Beadlet anemone

Actinia equina · The beadlet anemone is a common sea anemone that lives on rocky shores around Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa's Atlantic coast, Australia and East Asia.

Beadlet anemone
Photo: Riad Salih, CC BY 4.0
Beadlet anemone
Photo: Federico Stefanelli (nelli federico), CC BY-SA 4.0
Beadlet anemone
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCnidaria
ClassAnthozoa
OrderActiniaria
FamilyActiniidae
GenusActinia
SpeciesActinia equina

Where it lives

Rocky shores and rock pools from Norway to West Africa and the Mediterranean.

Fun facts

  • Underwater, a beadlet anemone can show up to 192 tentacles arranged in six circles.
  • Out of water, it pulls in its tentacles and looks like a blob of red, brown, green or orange jelly.
  • Bright blue beads just beneath its tentacles contain stinging cells, and the anemone uses them to fight over territory.
  • Beadlet anemones give birth to live young: up to one hundred embryos develop inside the body before being ejected into open water.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).