They do that because it gets the anemone to produce more mucus that the clownfish can rub on its body to prevent being stung. Maroons do this to BTA a lot more than any other clown.
IIRC, I read in my Scott Michael book on clowns and damsels that researchers have actually found anemone tentacles in the gut contents of some clownfish species, which seems to indicate that some clowns do actually consume them.
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