Anemone Armies Do Battle In Tide-Pools!

Whoa. This article about how sea anemone armies conduct terrotorial battles in tide-pools is extremely cool. Here's an excerpt:

"When the tide is out, the polyps are contracted and quiet. As the tide covers the colonies, "scouts" move out into the border to look for empty space to occupy. Larger, well-armed "warriors" inflate their stinging arms and swing them around. Towards the center of the colony, poorly armed "reproductive" anemones stay out of the fray and conduct the clone's business of breeding.

When anemones from opposing colonies come in contact, they usually fight. But after about 20 or 30 minutes of battle the clones settle down to a truce until the next high tide.

It's not just polyps along the border between two clones that clash. Polyps three or four rows away from the front will reach over their comrades to engage in fights, Grosberg said."

WHOA! Large-scale anemone battles with scouts and warriors! ANEMONE WARRIORS! Wow, even the meekest-looking creatures in the animal kingdom can be pretty bad-ass. If I didn't know better, I'd think the article was describing a battle in a really avant-garde new Real-Time Strategy game.

(via Boing Boing)