The predatory starlet sea anemone Nature Photographers Ltd/Alamy
A special protein allows anemones to choose when and who to sting. Understanding it guides stinging decisions shows how even the tiniest, subtle adaptations can drastically change an organism’s behaviour.
Anemones sting by shooting out venom-covered barbs called nematocysts, which can grow to 20 to 50 times their original size and travel at the speed of a fired bullet, says Nicholas Bellono at Harvard University.
“It’s one of the fastest events in biology,” says Bellono. “It’s very explosive.”
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