Sea anemones look very beautiful, like a bouquet of flowers, but are sea anemones animals or plants? Can sea anemones be eaten? Some people say that sea anemones are " sunflowers in the sea" and are plants. Of course they can be eaten. Is this correct? Let's take a look.
According to research, sea anemones look like plants, but in fact sea anemones are animals. Most sea anemones live in shallow seas and coastal puddles or rock crevices, and a few live in the ocean abyss. The mouth of the sea anemone is in the center of its mouth, and there are soft and beautiful petal-shaped tentacles that are fully extended around the mouth, just like a vibrant sunflower, hence the name sea anemone.
The sea anemone is a carnivore that grows in the water. It is a cnidarian. It is an animal with a very simple structure. It has no central information processing mechanism, which means that it does not even have the lowest brain foundation.
Sea anemone is also one of the most common invertebrates on the coasts of China, including green sea anemone, yellow sea anemone, etc. It has no skeleton and is anchored on fixed objects on the seabed, such as rocks and corals, or on the shell of a hermit crab, and can move very slowly. A new study believes that from a genetic coding perspective, sea anemones are a hybrid of animals and plants.
Anemone does not have the ability to take the initiative. Its food habits are very mixed, including molluscs, crustaceans, other invertebrates and even fish. After these animals are paralyzed by the sea anemone's stinging , they are captured by the tentacles and brought into the mouth. Very few animals prey on sea anemones. Its natural enemies include reddish anemone, starfish, and some nudibranchs .
The venom secreted by sea anemones is not very harmful to humans. If we accidentally touch their tentacles, we will be slapped and feel stinging or itching. If they are picked and cooked and eaten, poisoning such as vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain will occur. Therefore, sea anemones can neither be touched nor eaten.
Scientists also discovered that the lifespan of sea anemones is much longer than that of sea turtles, corals and other species that can live for hundreds of years. It is the longest-lived marine animal in the world. Studies have found that their lifespan can reach 1500-2100 years.
