the viewer think about what art is and
can be.
#More to explore
Arts • Drawing • Michelangelo
• Painting • Pottery
Sea Anemone
Sea anemones look like flowers but are
actually animals. Their “petals” are armlike
body parts called tentacles, which
circle the mouth. The tentacles may be
An abstract sculpture by Barbara Hepworth
is on display at a sculpture garden at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
The jewel anemone is a kind of sea anemone.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Sea Anemone 57
red, yellow, green, blue, orange, brown,
white, or a mixture of colors. Sea
anemones use their tentacles to sting the
shrimps, fish, and other small animals
that they eat.
There are more than 1,000 species, or
kinds, of sea anemone. They live in
oceans throughout the world.
Sea anemones are invertebrates, which
means they do not have a backbone.
They have soft bodies that may be thick
and short or long and slender. Most of
the body is made up of water. Sea
anemones range from less than an inch
(2.5 centimeters) to about 5 feet (1.5
meters) across.
Most sea anemones rarely move. Some
glide very slowly or do slow somersaults.
Sea anemones are usually found attached
to a hard surface such as a rock, a seashell,
or the back of a crab. A flattened
disk attaches the animal to an object by
suction. Some sea anemones float near
the ocean’s surface or burrow deep into
sand or mud.
Sea anemones are related to jellyfish.
Like a jellyfish, a sea anemone can sting
a person who touches it. The sting can
cause pain or sickness.
#More to explore
Jellyfish • Ocean
Sea Horse
A sea horse is an unusual fish with a
horselike head. There are more than 20
species, or types, of sea horse. They live
in warm and mild seas.
Sea horses are small fish. They are about
1 to 12 inches (4 to 30 centimeters)
long. Instead of scales, a sea horse has
bony rings covering its body. Sea horses
can be bright yellow or orange, or they
can be brown or black. Some are striped
or speckled. They often blend in with
nearby plants.
A sea horse usually spends its life in one
small area near the shore. It wraps its
curled tail around seaweed or coral to
keep from being swept out to sea. Sea
horses swim in an upright position.
They are weak swimmers.
Sea horses feed constantly. They eat tiny
creatures such as brine shrimp. A sea
horse sucks food into its tiny mouth
through its snout.
In some countries
people
eat sea
anemones.
Cooking the
sea anemone
gets rid of the
poison.
A sea horse uses its tail to
anchor itself to undersea plant
life.
58 Sea Horse BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Sea horses are unusual in the way they
reproduce. The female lays her eggs in a
pouch beneath the male’s tail. The male
carries the eggs until they hatch. The
baby sea horses look like small adults.
Many people like sea horses because of
their interesting appearance. Some
people keep sea horses in aquariums. In
some places people use sea horses in
medicine.
#More to explore
Fish
Seal
Seals are mammals that live mostly in
cold seas. They are related to the walrus.
There are more than 30 species, or
kinds, of seal. They can be divided into
two groups: earless, or true, seals and
eared seals. Earless seals actually do have
ears, but they do not stick out. Eared
seals have visible ears. Sea lions are eared
seals with a thick, hairy neck that looks
like a lion’s mane.
Seals are found throughout the world.
They are especially plentiful in seas near
the North and South poles. Some species
like the open ocean. Others prefer
to live along the coast. All seals spend
some time on islands, beaches, or sheets
of ice. They come ashore to breed.
A seal’s body is round in the middle and
narrower at the ends. The skin is usually
brown, gray, or black. The smallest seals
are about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and
weigh about 200 pounds (90 kilograms).
The largest seals can be 21 feet (6.5
meters) long and weigh more than
8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms). They
are called elephant seals.
Instead of legs, seals have two pairs of
flippers. Flippers help seals to swim.
Eared seals can turn their rear flippers
forward under the body. This allows
The ears of true seals do not stick out. them to scoot around while on land.
Sea lions are seals with visible ears. Sea
lions can turn their rear flippers forward to
help them to move on land.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Seal 59
Earless seals cannot turn their rear flippers
forward. They move on land by
wriggling on their bellies. They also may
pull themselves forward with their front
flippers.
Seals eat mostly fish. Some also eat squid
and shellfish. The leopard seal of the
Antarctic feeds on penguins and other
seals.
#More to explore
Mammal •Walrus
Sea Serpent
#see Animals, Legendary.
Sea Snake
Sea snakes are snakes that spend most of
their lives in water. They usually swim in
groups. From far away, a group can look
like one long snake. For this reason, sea
snakes may have inspired legends about
giant sea serpents.
Sea snakes belong to the same family as
cobras. There are about 50 species, or
types, of sea snake. Most are found in
Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.
Sea snakes live in warm, coastal waters.
