Anemone Verrucae - Example Pics, what is it exactly?

[World Citizen]

Anemone Verrucae

Don't ask me too much, because I don't quite understand it myself. I'm also using very broad, general information below because I simply can't get any good, clear information about what I'm looking at.

Certain anemones have a characteristic called Verrucae. It's often described as "claws."
It looks like small, dark bumps on the crown of an anemone. Here's a photo of those dark, black spots some anemones have.

I've been reading a lot, but nothing makes it clearer. Those black dots you see are supposedly claws that can cling to rocks.

But... this anemone in my case has its foot stuck to the rock, and its crown is touching the glass. So those black dots are touching the glass when it's stretched out.

I see all sorts of little tubes coming out of the anemone and sticking to the glass. I call them suction cups because I can't imagine anything else. It's definitely not a claw, because there's nothing to grab onto glass. It's either a suction cup or something very sticky that sticks to the glass.

Photos from far to close.

Both the starfish and the Verrucae are sitting against the glass here. There's no depth between them.

I'm sure there are people who can explain this, but I can't find it. Am I really looking at Verrucae here, or is this something else entirely?

Many evenings of Googling and finding articles to go...

 

[bradleym]

The dots in your photo are verrucae, but I’ve never heard of them being compared to claws before. They are more like small sticky spots that stick in a similar way to how a snail sticks to something. The only claws I am aware of are the stinging cells on the tentacles, which fire a microscopic harpoon to grab hold of their prey at the same time they sting them. Perhaps the veruccae have the same kind of cells? I never looked into it before.

 

[World Citizen]

The dots in your photo are verrucae, but I’ve never heard of them being compared to claws before. They are more like small sticky spots that stick in a similar way to how a snail sticks to something. The only claws I am aware of are the stinging cells on the tentacles, which fire a microscopic harpoon to grab hold of their prey at the same time they sting them. Perhaps the veruccae have the same kind of cells? I never looked into it before.

Hmm yeah. Thanks! I agree.

I am not asking you but just in general...
Are these black spot from the first photo the same thing as the sticky arms in the later pics?

I am going to put more camera's on this next weekend. I don't have lenses which can really capture it close, but I can get a bit closer with the tools I have.

Anyone who want's to say something... please do. I just read and don't judge.

 

[bradleym]

I believe so. They have the right and the right spacing. There are some other internal structures that are sometimes visible, but I think they are different in color. And I think the black spots are only black because they are dense and blocking the light coming through.

 

[Seancj]

Verrucae, the little 'dots' (sometimes colored, sometime transparent) on the underside of some species of anemones, do not have nematocyst cells. Nematocysts are only in the tentacles and used to grab on to food sources as Bradleym has stated.
When the anemone is fully extended, the verrucae help stabilize the anemone's column in place on whatever substrate their foot is attached to, either rock, rubble, or sand. They help the anemone assume a low profice over the reef and keep it from getting beaten up by high current.