Sea Anemone and Clown Fish

This small painting shows a clown fish beside a sea anemone. Ten species of Clown fish hang out with sea anemones, cleaning their stinging tentacles by eating any left over food bits. A clown fish is covered with slime which keeps it safe from the sea anemone’s stinging tentacles.

Several species of clown fish will live among the tentacles of one particular sea anemone all of their lives. The fish poop is eaten by the sea anemone and the clown fish is protected from predators by the stinging tentacles.

I have featured Sea Anemones for the entire month of January.and the first week of February !I hope you are not tired of reading about these fascinating animals! But if you are, good news! I’ll show different art next Sunday.

If you want further information about this painting, click here.

Pink Sea Anemones

This painting of sea anemones shows their adhesive feet located at the end of their pedestal like base. They can unglue their feet and glide away at a speed of three to four inches an hour. Sometimes a hermit crab will massage a sea anemone until it releases its hold on a rock. The crab then holds the anemone on top of its shell until it attaches. This arrangement gives the crab a perfect camouflage!

For more information about this painting, click here.

Sea Anemone, tan and orange

This painting of a sea anemone is only 5 x 7 inches! Sea anemones, eat fish, shrimp, crabs and microorganisms. They can eat a small fish in just a few minutes. They are also cannibals and eat each other. In turn, sea slugs, starfish, eels, flounders and codfish eat anemones.

I have not heard of humans in the U.S. eating anemones, but in Spain and Italy the snakelocks anemone is deep fried after being coated in batter, and eaten. I have shown a painting of a snakelocks anemone in my January 3 post. If you would like further information about the painting pictured in today’s post, click here.

My latest magazine article with paintings

Bioluminescent dinoflagellate-001 (Large)

I have written an article for the Breeze Magazine of the Low Country, the April edition just now online.  Click here to read my article called “An Artist Paints Bioluminescent Creatures.” Please turn to page 32.  Paintings of five creatures are included with the text.

%d bloggers like this: