---
title: "What the sources say about the Beadlet Anemone | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "35 claims from the Beadlet Anemone profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/beadlet-anemone/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Beadlet Anemone (*Actinia equina*)

> 35 claims from the Beadlet Anemone profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Beadlet Anemone](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/beadlet-anemone/)

## Actinia equina (beadlet anemone). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Actinia_equina/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A red blob on the rocks | looking like a little red blob |
| Almost anything it can catch, most often bivalves, insects and isopods | is known for eating almost anything it can catch. The most abundant food sources for this anemone are: bivalve mollusks, insects, and isopods. (note: 'most often' paraphrases 'most abundant food sources'; the quote names bivalve mollusks) |
| A beadlet anemone sits on a rock | Attaching to rocks, stones or other hard substrates |
| rust-red is the most common | The most common hue is rust-red. |
| Animal Diversity Web gives a dry weight of 0.01 to 0.84 g. | from 0.01 to 0.84 g dry weight (note: average 0.42 g from the 'Average mass 0.42 g' field of the same page) |
| an anemone in the water is mostly water it has absorbed | when anemones are in the water their body mass is primarily the amount of water absorbed in the tissue and in the gastrovascular cavity |
| Out of the water it is always retracted and looks like a little red blob. | However, it is always retracted when it is out of the water, looking like a little red blob. |
| it eats almost anything it can catch, and its toxins paralyze the prey and inhibit its ability to escape | is known for eating almost anything it can catch ... These toxins paralyze the organism, inhibiting its ability to escape. |
| It has three main defenses: inflating its body column, detaching from the rock in a bid to escape predation, and releasing stinging cells with toxins. | have three main defensive behaviors which include: inflation of the body column to reduce damaged areas, detachment off the substrate so they might escape predation, or release of the nematocytes containing toxins. (note: Source says 'so they might escape predation'; 'in a bid to' keeps that hedge.) |
| The grey sea slug still eats it, and somehow does not digest the most toxic stinging cells. | Despite its stinging cells, the grey sea slug, Aeolidia papillosa preys on A. equina. The sea slug somehow does not digest the most toxic stinging cells. |
| genetic studies suggest the differently colored beadlets may be separate species | Recent genetic studies suggest the different colored Actinia equina may actually be distinct species. (note: ADW's 'recent' dropped: the account is undated and old, so the page does not call the studies recent) |
| Animal Diversity Web says that contact with a human can cause great discomfort and pain, and that its nematocysts hold powerful toxins. | It has powerful toxins (e.g. equistatin and equinatoxin) in its nematocysts that it uses for feeding and defense. If a human comes in contact with it, it can cause great discomfort and pain. |
| Bivalve mollusks, insects and isopods are its most abundant foods, while snails, slugs, bryozoans and chitons supply the largest food mass. | The most abundant food sources for this anemone are: bivalve mollusks, insects, and isopods. However larger organisms such as gastropods (snails and slugs), bryozoans, and chitons are what provide the largest food mass. |
| The average is 0.42 g. | Average mass 0.42 g (note: dry weight, same page) |
| Out of the water a beadlet anemone pulls in and sits as a little red blob, and when its tentacles touch a neighbor's it stings. | looking like a little red blob (note: vibe.reason; the rest of the sentence restates body claims: is aggressive toward the anemones next to it, and a fight starts when the tentac; Out of the water it is always retracted and looks like a little red blob.) |

## Beadlet anemone (Actinia equina). MarLIN, the Marine Life Information Network.

https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1561

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| picks fights with its neighbors using stinging blue spots | Actinia equina displays aggressive behaviour towards neighbouring individuals. This aggressive behaviour is stimulated when the tentacles of adjacent anemones come into contact. The aggressor stings the victim with nematocysts, in the acrorhagi |
| Hard surfaces on the shore, from western Europe and the Mediterranean to the west coast of Africa | Distributed throughout western Europe including the Mediterranean, from the Arctic to the west coast of Africa almost to the equator. (note: stats.habitat; hard surfaces from the Habitat section: 'attached to hard substrata ... from the upper to lower shore'; the quote's 'almost to the equator' is not claimed) |
| A sting from its blue acrorhagi leads a neighbor to crawl away or drop off the rock | The aggressor stings the victim with nematocysts, in the acrorhagi, which leads to the victim either crawling away or dropping off the substratum. |
| Not Evaluated | Beadlet anemone ( Actinia equina ) (note: stats.conservationStatus. No Red List assessment: the prefetch found no category in GBIF's copy of the Red List and no assessment DOI for Actinia equina. MarLIN is cited for the species name only. Precedent great-scallop.) |
| is aggressive toward the anemones next to it, and a fight starts when the tentacles of two neighbors touch | displays aggressive behaviour towards neighbouring individuals. This aggressive behaviour is stimulated when the tentacles of adjacent anemones come into contact. |
| The aggressor stings the victim with nematocysts, the stinging cells, carried in its acrorhagi | The aggressor stings the victim with nematocysts, in the acrorhagi |
| bright blue, wart-like spots that are often found near the top of the body column | Bright blue wart like spots, called acrorhagi, are often found round the inside of the top margin of the column. |
| The victim either crawls away or drops off the rock. | which leads to the victim either crawling away or dropping off the substratum |
| The base is up to 5 cm across and is usually wider than tall. | Broad base up to 5 cm in diameter, usually wider than tall. |
| Up to 192 tentacles sit in 6 circles, and they pull back in when the animal is disturbed. | Up to 192 retractable tentacles arranged into 6 circles. |
| Color runs from red to brown, green and orange | can be red, brown, green or orange in colour |
| The beadlet anemone lives all around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. | Found all around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. |
| Its range runs across western Europe and the Mediterranean, from the Arctic to the west coast of Africa, almost to the equator. | Distributed throughout western Europe including the Mediterranean, from the Arctic to the west coast of Africa almost to the equator. |
| It clings to hard surfaces from the upper to the lower shore and rarely goes subtidal, to about 20 m deep. | found attached to hard substrata, both in exposed and sheltered situations, from the upper to lower shore and rarely in subtidal areas to depths of around 20 m |
| It handles high temperatures and desiccation (drying out). | it tolerates high temperatures and desiccation (note: 'drying out' is the standard gloss of desiccation) |
| the strawberry anemone (Actinia fragacea), is plumper and red to reddish brown with greenish spots | The strawberry anemone, Actinia fragacea , is more plump than Actinia equina and is red to reddish brown in colour with greenish spots |

## Maček & Lebez (1988). Isolation and characterization of three lethal and hemolytic toxins from the sea anemone Actinia equina L. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0041-0101(88)90183-3

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The dose that killed half of the mice tested was 23, 35 and 83 micrograms per kilogram for equinatoxins I, II and III, injected into a vein. | the acute i.v. LD50 in mice of equinatoxins I, II and III were 23, 35 and 83 micrograms/kg, respectively (note: i.v. = intravenous; LD50 = dose lethal to half) |
| Researchers purified three equinatoxins from this anemone. | Lethal and hemolytic toxins were purified by acetone precipitation, Sephadex G-50, CM-cellulose and CM-Sephadex column chromatography from the tentacles and bodies of the sea anemone Actinia equina. |

## Maček et al. (1994). Mechanism of action of equinatoxin II, a cytolysin from the sea anemone Actinia equina L. belonging to the family of actinoporins. Toxicology.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0300-483x(94)90252-6

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Equinatoxin II opens pores in cell membranes. In red blood cells that causes hemolysis, the breaking open of the cells | Red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis by EqT-II is the result of a colloid-osmotic shock caused by the opening of toxin-induced pores. |
| the pores were estimated to have a functional radius of about 1.1 nm | the functional radius of the lesion was estimated to be approximately 1.1 nm |