MBFE - Numb Tongue

During class lectures we talk about different communities of marine organisms.  One group of animals that lives on rocky shores are sea anemones, including the aggregating anemone Anthopleura elegantissima and giant green anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica.

Anthopleura xanthogrammica in a tide pool.

Sea anemones are beautiful animals related to jellyfish and coral.  They make their living by using stinging cells to capture plankton and other things that get too close.  You can, by the way, find just about anything sticking out of the mouth of a sea anemone.

Anyway, a few days ago while talking about these fascinating animals a question came up that almost always does, "Can these animals hurt us?"  Well, some tropical species pack a pretty good wallop, but the species along the west coats don't affect us, unless someone decided to lick one.  If they did that, they'd probably just get a numb-tongue.

So earlier this week I came strolling into the lab to see how things were going and Isaac starts grinning at me so I ask what's up.  He licked a sea anemone to see what would happen and sure enough, he got numb-tongue.  Actually he said it was more tingly than numb...and it took two to three hours for the effects to wear off.

Way to go Isaac!  That's a life experience few people (including me) haven't had.

Lick an anemone, get a numb tongue!