Is this a flower eating a fish? No, this is an animal called a sea
anemone eating a fish.
Plant or animal?
Do you know the best way to tell the difference between a plant and an
animal? You can’t always tell by just looking. Some
plants look like animals and some animals look like plants.
At the bottom of the sea, there is a living thing that looks like a
flower growing out of the sand. But if a fish swims by and touches the
“flower’s” petals, the fish gets caught. A little mouth opens up in the
middle of the “flower” and into it goes the fish!
Do plants have mouths? Can they eat things?
No. No plant in the world has a mouth. And most green plants make their
own food from sunshine, air, and water. But animals can’t make their
food. They must eat.
Now the “flower” on the sea bottom moves. It slides slowly over the
sand. Can a plant move?
No. Once a plant sprouts up from its seed it stays in the same place
unless it is moved by man, an animal, or the wind. But most animals can
move by themselves.
So this living thing at the bottom of the sea is not a plant, because it
moves and eats. It is an animal called a sea anemone.
If a living thing moves about and eats, it is an animal.
