Anemone Mother with Young

Remarkable reproduction: This tiny Proliferating Anemone expels fertilized eggs within a bath of mucus and she may have fertilized the eggs herself! Cilia move the mucus-covered eggs down the column where they become attached, enfolded, and will hatch and benefit from the protection of Mom’s tentacles for about 3 to 4 months, till siblings make them shuffle on. In this species, the young on the column can be of different ages (Epiactis prolifera to 3 cm).There is a larger species which also has babies on the column but these hatch inside the mother (Brooding Anemone, Epiactis lisbethae).