Tentacular spectacular

I haven't counted but will take on trust that 192 tentacles surround the beadlet anemone's central opening which acts as a mouth, anus and birth canal (an economical arrangement surely - why double up on orifices if one will do?)

If you touch them with your finger you feel a light stickiness caused by homeopathic amounts of nerve poison being fired off by millions of microscopic harpoons. What is just a mild sensation to us means entrapment and paralysis to passing plankton, shrimps and other small prey. Some sea anemones have been seen ingesting entire sea bird chicks although whether these were dead to start with is not clear.

The beadlet (Actinia equina) is the commonest sea anemone on our shores. When high and dry in the intertidal zone it resembles a blood clot like this. The only other species I routinely find is the even more spectacular snakelocks anemone which is supposed to be edible. The beadlet is not, as someone of my acquaintance once discovered.

Worldwide sea anemones occur in eye-popping variety. Although they are classified as simple animals recently it's been discovered that genetically they share some features with plants and as such may represent a very early evolutionary stage.