A crab became a snack for a sea predator with “stinging tentacles” on an Oregon shoreline, a photo shows.
The crustacean was snagged by a carnivorous giant green anemone at the Seal Rock State Recreation Site, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a Dec. 29 Facebook post.
“These carnivores inhale prey and use their stinging tentacles to paralyze them before pulling the snack into their mouth,” wildlife officials said.
A sea anemone captured a crab.
Giant green anemones can be found in tide pools on rocky shorelines from Alaska to Central America and rarely move once attached to a surface, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The sea animal feasts on crabs, mussels, small fish and sea urchins.
Stinging cells are found on its tentacles, which paralyze its prey.
However, it’s safe for humans to touch sea anemones, wildlife officials said.
“While it’s always a good idea to be gentle and cautious around tide pools, there is no need to worry about accidentally touching a sea anemone,” wildlife officials said in the post.
Facebook users had plenty to say about the unfortunate scene.
“Looks like a neck pillow bedazzled with gravel,” one person commented.
“Thanks for the nightmare,” another person wrote.
“FYI – Please don’t touch sea anemones during outgoing low tides because if exposed, when touched they often react and excrete water that they need to stay hydrated before the tide returns,” someone else said.
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