Inside anemones

Sea anemones often contain communities of cleaners.  Some are loaded with juvenile fish.  And we often look through their tentacles to find shrimp.

The above photo is a giant anemone, about 8 inches across, that is hosting a small population of juvenile bluehead wrasse.  At this stage, the wrasse act as cleaner fish.  The fish were about an inch in length.

This photo features a spotted cleaner shrimp, also about an inch in length.  They sway their bodies and wave their long antennae to attract fish for cleaning.

The above photo shows a pair of squat anemone shrimp.  This species ranges from about 1/4 to 3/4 inch in length.  These were about a half inch long.  They are able to leap from one tentacle to another in a jiffy, almost as if they were jet propelled.  This rapid speed seems to be an anti-predator behavior.  I don't know what eats them.

All the photos were taken at depths of 25 to 30 feet.