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Ok to extrapolate a bit on this I'm looking for information on Sea anemone's for an encounter idea I have rolling around in my head and any help would be greatly appreciated.
1. Does anyone know if there are any fresh water variants of sea anemone's?
2. If so does anyone know the species name/know where I can find a screenshot or picture of one so I can see if their are any differences in look or style for them?
3. I've read that Anemone's are related to jellyfish or coral and it leads me to wonder what they feel like. Are they like a jellyfish where they are mostly a jelly like consistency or are they more like a giant muscles and have a more "solid" body like other organisms? To that end are they a slimy creature or not?
Freshwater hydra are related to anemones. I see on a quick google search that there are supposedly fresh water versions, but that reference didn't have details and I figured you could use google as well as I could.
They are somewhat similar to sponges or other non-skeletal organisms. The ones I remember from Guam are not "jelly-like", except for their tentacles. But they are very poisonous so I didn't mess with them. Their "stalk" seemed to be pretty solid, although it would sway in the current.
If you are wanting to make up something based on anemones, make them as solid as you want to. If you are making them big, you'll probably have to make them more solid anyway, just so they can maintain their structural integrity at large size.
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Cool. I actually wasn't looking for the references so I wouldn't have to modify them much and could find out how to incorporate one. The idea was to have a giant freshwater anemone in one of the deep sewer canals that the party will have to pass through in one of the upcoming dungeons, feeding on the refuse that passes by it. Problem was I didn't know if there were fresh water variants to base the look on. Second I kind of wanted to figure out how it would fit in the ecology of the dungeon itself, would it be a predator hunting the kobolds that pass by or would it be something they could get into a symbiotic relationship with and possibly even farm for resources (food, protection, etc.)?
Well, real world anemones ("anemonae?") Are opportunistic feeders which use poison to stun their prey, then digest it. As such they have to rely on fish wandering close enough, being forced close enough, or being lured close enough. If your sewer system has water moving at any speed, a giant anemone positioned in a location that allows the current to bring it food would be quite reasonable. Of course it could also be fed by throwing victims to it. A nice touch would be to have some sort of symbiotic organism living among its tendrils like clown fish do. A sea hag with anemone slime secretions would be quite cool... the anemone provides a safe place for the hag to live, and the hag goes out and captures victims for the anemone to eat...
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A little poking around on wikipedia came up with the Hydra Vulgaris. Interesting little creature. It can't die of old age and another Hyrda will grow from a cut off chunk if the severed piece is large enough. With a fantasy twist this could be an interesting encounter.
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sounds cool obadiah. Also Adamantine I do have something like that in mind though the plan is for denizens of one of my dungeons to use it as a defense or some form of sustenance. Right now I'm kind of leaning on the idea of this group of kobolds keeping it in a section of the sewer with a lot of water flow and feeding it rats and the occasional intruder in exchange for harvesting it's tendrils for food and poison (just thought about that poison thing hmm...).