A couple of anemones
There are plenty of anemone species around the coasts of the UK and the majority are subtidal. Many more are difficult to ID and especially if the animal is not seen fully. Here we’re introducing just two, as they’re very likely finds on a Shoresearch rocky shore survey and by way of comparison we’ll mention a couple more.
The species in focus are:
beadlet anemone/buwch goch (Actinia equina)
snakelocks anemone/anemoni nadreddog (Anemonia viridis)
You will see what they look like in different situations and understand how to separate them from other, less-commonly found anemones.
You will then be tested.
Two anemones
beadlet anemone/buwch goch (Actinia equina) 
©Sue Timperley
- likes high and mid-shore zones and is often the only anemone present
- out of water the tentacles are most likely tucked into its mouth and it then looks like a blob of jelly
- lives in crevices, rockpools, rock sides
- up to 5cm in diameter and a smooth column
- has up to 160 tentacles in 6 rows
- sometimes shows its beadlets which are bright blue blobs at the base of its tentacles
- most often dark red, but can be dark green, and brown also
snakelocks anemone/anemoni nadreddog (Anemonia viridis)
©North Wales Wildlife Trust
- long, often mobile, long tentacles
- can be vibrant, unnatural-looking green with pink tips, but also can be pale pink-ish, beige or grey, (sometimes pink tips, but no other patterning)
- column is smooth, up to 7cm diameter and brown-orange in colour
- rarely seen with tentacles tucked in
- low shore, likes rockpool sides
- often seen en masse
- can be found out of water, under weed on low shore
Now you’ve seen some of our most commonly seen anemones, we’ll introduce you to some of the comparisons to keep an eye out for. The snakelocks anemone does not really have a comparison species, but perhaps make sure it has solid colour with no stripes and take care to look at algae in case it’s snakelocks tentacles instead.
When in the intertidal, seeing the ubiquitous beadlet anemone can mean you might overlook other similar species, which are much rarer, so keep an eye out for potential comparisons – the first is the strawberry anemone. So, look for specific differences if you can:
- the strawberry anemone looks like it can’t hold up its own weight often, as it’s commonly an anemone with a wide column
- the beadlet anemone can have green markings on the column; sometimes stripes, but also sometimes spots. Look out for less in-line and larger green-ish spots all over the column to ID a strawberry anemone
- strawberry anemones like sandy substrate
- strawberry anemones like living in the low shore zone
The dahlia anemone is another potential species which can be overlooked, especially if it’s not its common striped tentacled form. On the low shore, they could be confused, so be ready to compare. The differences are:
- dahlia anemones often have striped tentacles, but even when solid colours they look chunky in size compared to beadlet anemones
- the dahlia anemone likes to bury a bit in sand, rather than sit attached to rock sides.
- the dahlia anemone can hide itself well by tucking in its tentacles while buried, but also covering its column with sand grains
Alternative factoids
These incredibly engaging creatures are found all around our shores, so knowing a bit more about their habits is bound to help you warm to them even more. This section will not appear in the quiz as questions.
Anemones are related to jellies (jellyfish) and therefore have stinging tentacles
Snakelocks anemones have algae within their tentacles which produce food when the sun’s out some of which is then used by the anemone.
Beadlet anemones have those blue beads (which are filled with toxic harpoons) to fling at non-related beadlets which encroach onto their space.
Individual beadlet anemones have been shown to be bold or shy and depending on where they’re found on the continuum, can spend a lot longer fighting over territory.
Armed with stings, anemones can catch and eat things as large as prawns and small crabs
The next section is the quiz. Click to begin the quiz, the questions will appear below. For the fill-in-the-gaps questions, make sure you spell the same way as the word/phrase in the list, but don’t worry about using capitals or not. If you get any one question wrong within each quiz page, the you will be marked as wrong for the whole page. Answers will appear one you’ve finished each question.
You will be tested on what you’ve learnt so far using the reading and video info. Don’t worry too much, as once you’ve been out on the shore, the ID features you’ve learnt about will make more sense and after a couple of visits you should feel more confident about your ID.
Good luck!