Corkscrew Anemone with Peterson Cleaner Shrimps
MAKE FRIENDS WITH ANEMONE (2): SPECTACULAR REEF LIFE
Going snorkelling? Planning a scuba day on the reef? You’ll see wonderful fish and amazing coral for sure. But sometimes the beauty of other life on the reef can be overlooked. Check out the anemone in the header image, with the camouflaged cleaner shrimps playing around it. You wouldn’t want to miss a sight like that. The many and varied forms and colours of anemone on the reefs of the Bahamas make up a vital component of a spectacular underwater world.
ADDED NOV 2016 Capt. Rick Guest adds this interesting material (& thanks for correcting my erroneous reference to anemones as ‘plants’. My bad. They are of course animals!):
“Anemones are living animals of the invertebrate type. Basically living corals without skeletons. All have stinging cells of several varieties to sting or entangle their prey such as small fish, or various invertebrates. A few can even, painfully, penetrate human dermal layers. Most host varieties of cleaner shrimps,and snapping shrimps that can stun their own prey. Some Dromidia crabs even pull some species of anemone off the reef, and attach them to their carapace (their back) apparently for camouflage, and perhaps protection”.
All photos: Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba, with thanks
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
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Hi Rh. Just found this monologue, and wish to correct a misnomer concerning this Heading. “Spectacular Reef Plants”. This inaccurate, since anemones are living animals of the invertebrate type. Basically living corals without skeletons. All have stinging cells of several varieties to sting or entangle their prey such as small fish, or various invertebrates. A few can even, painfully penetrate human dermal layers. Most host varieties of cleaner shrimps,and snapping shrimps that can stun their own prey. Some Dromidia crabs even pull some species of Anemone off the reef, and attach them to their carapace (their back) apparently for camouflage, and perhaps protection.
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Hi Rick, thanks so much for picking up this blooper. In part 1 the title was ‘spectacular reef life’ (which actually covers all bases!). Why I changed it – and to the wrong life-form at that – I have no idea. Easy to change. My bad, your good! Thanks for that and for the interesting additional material, which I will add to the post. All the best, RH
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Liked just for the title
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Too kind, fellow-punster!
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