Beadlet anemone

Actinia equina is a type of glowworm with a characteristic red color that belongs to the group of corals. It has 200 short and thick tentacles, arranged in 6 circles. Most often during the day or in case of danger, it collects its tentacles and pulls them into its body cavity. In this way, it tolerates long periods in the air during low tide and large fluctuations in temperature. It is more active at night, when it opens and catches small prey with its tentacles, such as fish, shells and snails, and suspended particles in the water column. It takes food with its tentacles into the only opening it has. As with all anemones, beadlet anemone hunters have filamentous filaments (nematocysts) that they use to stun their prey. Below the tentacles is a ring of blue dots, each with a glow cell. It is firmly attached to the rock but can change its position. Actinia equina is bisexual and reproduces both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction results in internal fertilization with male and female gametes. The developing larva leaves the individual of the red sea urchin where it was fertilized and floats in the water column until it finds a new individual in which it will continue to develop. After a certain time, the juvenile sea urchin is expelled from the cavity of the adult Beadlet anemone and ends up on the seabed where it will attach itself and continue to live. It reproduces asexually by fragmenting the body, forming a new identical individual.