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High School Science Experiments with Anemones

Sea anemones are beautiful, often brightly-colored sea creatures. Anemones are closely related to coral and jellyfish. Stinging polyps, anemones spend most of their lives attached to coral reefs and rocks waiting for fish to pass by close enough to them to sting the fish, ensnare them in their poisonous tentacles and slowly consume them for nourishment. Anemones make fascinating science experiment project subjects and can be easily found in any of the world's oceans.

Territorial Tendencies
- Explore the territorial tendencies of sea anemones by setting up multiple anemones of genetically different strains in one tank. Expose the anemones to each other at periodic intervals, observing their behavior and recording the number of attacks they make on each other. Keep feedings regular. Repeat the experiment with multiple anemones of genetically identical strains and expose them to each other at the same periodic intervals. Record differences in the number of attacks and use this to prove the theory that since certain types of anemones reproduce asexually whereas others do not, genetically different anemones will attack each other while identical ones will not.
Sensitivity to Touch
- Conduct a science fair project that examines the way contact with human fingers and other objects like wood or kelp affects sea anemones. Set up multiple anemones of the same type in an aquarium. Touch three of the anemones with your finger for a prolonged period of time, such as one touch every six minutes for 60 minutes. Touch another three anemones more frequently and do not touch the final three anemones at all. Observe and record the effects on the anemones, such as their appetites and lifespans. Make sure to conduct this experiment on anemones that are not dangerous to humans.
Symbiotic Relationships
- Explore the nature of symbiotic relationships that certain creatures, like clownfish, experience with sea anemones. Expose anemones to clownfish and other fish that do not have a protective mucus covering insulating them from the anemone's poisonous tentacles. Observe how the anemones behave differently around clownfish, such as frequency of tentacle movement.
Sticky Feet
- Observe sea anemones' ability to attach themselves to hard surfaces with their adhesive pedal discs, or sticky feet. Test which surfaces anemones best attach themselves to and which surfaces they are unable to adhere themselves to by placing multiple anemones in tanks with various surfaces, ranging from plain glass to a sand-filled tank to a tank with large rocks and one with corals. Record your observations about which surface(s) anemones thrive on and which ones they don't.

Animals & Science