A snakelocks anemone in a laboratory tank Vengamanaidu Modepalli
Photosynthetic anemones do something that was thought to be limited to plants until now: they orient themselves towards the sun, following its daily movement across the sky. These are the first known 鈥渉eliotropic鈥 animals.
at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, UK, noticed that the snakelocks anemones (Anemonia viridis) in an aquarium at his institute were all pointing their tentacles towards the sun streaming in through a nearby window. When Modepalli closed the shutter, the anemones鈥 tentacles promptly fell into a disordered tangle. They perked up again within…
