Tag Archives: sea anemone

Process, Research

2D and 3D animal movement analysis

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So after being informed about the class activity, this is my 2D analysis on the movement of the sea anemone.

I used different coloured crayons to show the different positions the sea anemone has stayed before moving off again.

As they are fairly slow creatures, i felt like they don’t make much difference in space as they move and is quite slow thus the numerous rounds of circular scribbles.

I choose a circular shape as the body of the sea anemone is cylindrical and it is not a perfect circle as i feel that its movement its quite random and it is going against water currents so it would be gripping onto anything it can.

The middle portion that i yellow and more directional is the sea anemone being attached onto a hermit crab. I figured it was also another way the sea anemone would move.

Moving on this is my 3D paper sculpture on the creature.

I decided to keep the circular pattern and decided to make it more varying is sizes from it going from smaller to bigger and then smaller again. This depicts the sea anemone ‘speed‘ on whether it was staying in that place or moving. The bigger the circle is the longer the presence of the sea anemone.

The way the circles wrap around really feels like how the sea anemone would move, almost sluggish and random, clinging onto anything it can.

Thats all!

My Work, Process, Research

Animal Research: Sea Anemone!

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So the creature my group was assigned to was the relationship between the sea anemone and other animals, mostly the hermit crab and the clownfish. They share a symbiosis relationship which means that, it is a mutually beneficial relationship from both parties in close physical association.

The structure of the sea anemone

To understand how the anemone bonds with the hermit crab and clownfish, it is first important to understand the structure of the anemone, how it moves, defends and other actions it may take.

  • surrounded by numerous tentacles,  studded with nematocysts and are actively used in food capture and defence.
  • the nematocyst, or stinging capsule, similar to that of a jellyfish.
  • they have single sack-like body cavity that performs digestive, nutrient absorption and, gas exchange functions.
  • this single opening  is the mouth, through which food, water, and gametes must pass.
  • several kinds of muscles can be found, and are used to contract and bend the column in various directions.
  • the pedal disk, used by burrowing anemones to anchor in soft substrate.

So we can conclude there are numerous movements which the anemone takes which is, the stinging action by the tentacles, the column that contracts for digestive functions or just bending into directions and finally the pedal disk which sort of anchors the anemone or while it moves around.

Symbiosis with clownfish

The clownfish is the only fish that doesn’t get affected by the sea anemone stinging tentacles as they have a special mucus that protects them. They get accustomed to the sting as they lightly brush their bodies against the tentacle.

Symbiosis with hermit crab

As for the hermit crab, it is intelligent enough to find sea anemones to hook onto its shell for extra protection against predator. This makes the sea anemone seem as though it has a moving house! It doesn’t need to stay in one position waiting for food as the hermit crab does all the work for it.

I also came across two very interesting documentaries on the sea anemone so do take a look. Thanks for reading!