Is the sea anemone a plant or an animal?

When it is time to feed, the sea anemone will open up like a flower.  The sea anemone (pronounced “un NEM oh nee”) is a strange sea animal whose many graceful tentacles (tiny arms) often look like the petals of a flower.

A cluster of sea anemones looks very much like an undersea garden of brightly colored, red, purple, green, and blue blossoms.  Although sea anemones may look like harmless flowers, their touch means death to small fishes and other small sea creatures.

When a small fish happens to swim too close to the sea anemone and touch the tentacles, tiny, needle-like poisoned threads shoot out of the tentacles and sting the fish.  Then the tentacles drag the helpless prey into the sea anemone’s mouth.

The foot of the sea anemone allows it to slide about slowly on rocks.  But usually, they anchor themselves by gripping rocks, shells, or burrow into the sandy floor of the ocean.  Then a sea anemone is disturbed, it pulls its tentacles inside the body.  It then looks like a round lump on the rock.-Dick Rogers