Mechanical Design in Sea Anemones
By applying principles of fluid and solid mechanics to biological structures, I have studied the morphological adaptations of two species of sea anemones to the mechanical activities they perform and the environmental forces they encounter. The two species of anemones I used represent different extremes in mechanical behavior: Metridium senile, a calm-water species noted for the great range of shapes and sizes it can assume (Batham and Pantin, 1950), and Anthopleura xanthogrammica, a species occurring in areas exposed to extreme wave action (Hand, 1956; Dayton, 1971). I chose anemones because they are simple in structure, thus differences in morphology and function between species are easier to recognize and characterize than they would be for more complex animals.