Mr. E. W. H. Holds worth on a new Sea Anemone. 517 



responds most closely with the members of the genus Arremon, but 

 the bill is altogether abnormal, the upper mandible swelling in the 

 middle and overlapping the under, as in the genus Lanio, though 

 not developed into a decided hook. But the bill is much shorter, 

 broader and deeper than in the last-named genus, and has more 

 general resemblance to that of some of the Saltatores. The wings 

 are very short, but the only skin sent belonging to a bird in moult, 

 the comparative length of the remiges cannot be determined. 



Description of a New Sea Anemone. 

 By E. W. H. Holdsworth, F.Z.S. 



The species now to be described must be separated from the true 

 Actinicey and may be well placed in the genus Scolanthus, which was 

 proposed by Mr. Gosse for the reception of an animal obtained by 

 him at Weymouth, and which presented the very distinctive cha- 

 racters of a perforated base, and the absence of a terminal adhesive 

 disk. A description of that species will be found in the * Annals of 

 Natural History' for the year 1853, p. 157. These points of differ- 

 ence are accompanied, as might be expected, by a variation in habits, 

 and the members of the genus will be found living buried in mud 

 or sand, into which they retire on being alarmed, their extraordi- 

 nary powers of inversion enabling them to hide at some little distance 

 below the surface. 



Scolanthus sPHiERoiDES. 



This species, which I found tolerably abundant at Seaford, near 

 Beachy Head, has, in expansion, the body lengthened and cylindrical, 

 regularly striated longitudinally with fine transverse markings, the 

 upper part sparingly covered with sucking-glands, not arranged in 

 any definite order. Disk flat and even, but little exceeding the dia- 

 meter of the body. Tentacula numerous, in three or four irregular 

 series, the inner one containing from nine to twelve ; these are the 

 longest, and measure, when fully extended, about half an inch, or two- 

 thirds of the breadth of the disk ; the outer row consists of from fifty 

 to sixty tentacula of the same slender tapering form as the inner 

 ones, but are one-third shorter, the other series being intermediate in 

 size and number. The body tapers a little posteriorly and terminates 

 with a rounded base, having a distinct central perforation. When 

 closely contracted, the two ends of the body are nearly alike, and the 

 animal assumes the appearance of a more or less flattened sphere or 

 bead, the resemblance to which is much increased by the presence 

 of the terminal orifices. 



The colour of the body is a dirty-white, and the upper portion is 

 generally covered with particles of sand or mud adherent to the 

 sucking-glands surrounding that part, and which help to conceal the 

 animal when contracted, as is found to be the case with Act. crassi- 

 cornis, and probably other species under similar circumstances. The 

 mouth opens transversely, and from it very delicate white lines radiate 



