Shape-shifting sea creatures are named after a vegetable. They’re washing up in Texas

Resembling a tiny pebble when its contracted, a sea creature washing up in Texas bears similarities to a vegetable as it balloons in size.

Appropriately called onion sea anemones, the ocean creature is beginning to emerge along the shore of southern Texas at North Padre Island, according to Jace Tunnell of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.

Tunnell shared in a May 6 video posted on Facebook that he had spotted dozens of the onion anemones on the shore, and he expected them to soon be approaching Mustang Island.

When the anemones wash up, according to Tunnell, they get sand in them and begin drying up. But when they’re in water, they absorb the liquid and begin to grow.

Tunnell picked up one of the anemones and — without him squeezing it — it began squirting out water while getting smaller.

The translucent shape-shifting creature resembles a cocktail onion when its body is closed, according to an identification guide for marine organisms of Texas. Its body can also elongate and look like a worm.

The onion anemones are often found within the sediment, where they expose their tentacles, Sanibel Sea School said.

“Within the tentacles are structures known as nematocysts. Nematocysts contain stinging cells that stun the anemone’s prey and serve as a great defense against predators,” according to Sanibel Sea School.

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