Back after 40 years - a rare sea animal! (From Western Telegraph)

Back after 40 years - a rare sea animal!

A RARE minute sea animal has been discovered again off Pembrokeshire.

Anne Bunker, the Countryside Council for Wales marine sites surveyor who made the discovery, said: "There have been sightings of this anemone in the past - but they are few and far between. It was first described by Phillip Henry Gosse at a site near Tenby in 1854, then recorded at Skokholm in 1960, and lastly at Broadhaven South earlier this year".

Gosse named the animal the glaucus pimplet, which describes the animal perfectly. Glaucous refers to its greenish-blue colour and pimplet to the rows of strongly adhesive warts that can be seen on its column or its spotted tentacles. It is often buried in gravel pools of exposed rock shores, between the mid-tide and low-tide water marks.

"Why it has turned up again in Wales after more than 40 years is anyone's guess," said Anne.

"They hide away in inaccessible places, so they may have been here all along and gone undetected. There may even be many more along the beautiful and diverse rocky coastline of Pembrokeshire - just waiting for us to find them."