Do anemones have taste buds?

[Moort82]

Odd question i know but i read an article on mandarins which mentioned they were possibly poisonous (although it mentioned this hadn't yet been proved). It also talked about the mucus which i think is well know to be a deterent to predators by tasting foul.
Now i have heard many a person who has had an anemone thats taken a mandarin. That basically explains my question. Do they, unlike other predators not mind the mucus coating, or just don't recognise it as a deterent?
A similar question arises with things like sea urchins or lionfish, which i've also heard have been taken by anemones.

TIA

 

[velvetelvis]

Interesting question. They can definitely sense food in the water, as mine will sometimes "pucker" when I feed the clownfish. I don't know enough about anemone anatomy (say that three times fast!) to say whether it's some rudimentary sense of smell or taste, or something else. I hope somebody more scientifically minded than me can shed some light on the subject.

 

[Moort82]

I agree that its likely they have sensuary recognition as when they are fed they really hold on but if algae or non food items touch the tentacles, there is a very different reaction.
It also made me think that it mandarins have a thick mucus coating, wouldn't that make them more resistant to the stings in the first place? but again they don't seem to have much of a defence against them.