Beadlet anemone

If you have ever explored a rocky beach, you may have spotted little blobs that look like squishy red jelly stuck to the rocks. Those are beadlet anemones, and they are hiding a lovely secret. They may look like plain dark-red or green lumps, but they are really gentle sea animals waiting patiently for the tide to come back in.

When the seawater covers them again, something magical happens. The blob slowly opens up into a beautiful ring of short, soft tentacles that sway in the water. There can be up to around two hundred of these little tentacles, and the anemone uses them to catch tiny bits of food, like drifting shrimp and small sea creatures that float past.

The moment the tide goes out again, or if something disturbs it, the beadlet anemone pulls all its tentacles safely inside. This turns it back into a shiny blob. Tucking itself away like this keeps the soft, delicate tentacles from drying out in the air and hides them from anything that might want a nibble.

Underneath its body is a wide, flat foot that works just like a sucker. It grips the rock so firmly that even big, crashing waves cannot knock the anemone loose. This clever little sucker lets it stay in one cosy spot, in its rock pool, for a very long time.

Beadlet anemones live all around the rocky coasts of Europe and beyond, from chilly northern shores down to the warmer Mediterranean Sea. They are among the easiest sea animals to find when the tide is low, so next time you visit a rocky beach, keep your eyes open for these jewel-like blobs waiting quietly for the sea to return.