A SI R^ ACE A. SAGARTIADsE. 



THE SNOWY ANEMONE. 



Sagartia nivea. 

 Plate II. Figs. 1, 8. 



\ rifle Character. Disk and tentacles opaque white, without 

 markings. 



Actinia nivea. Gosse, Devonsk. Coast, 93 ; pi. i. fig. 8. 

 Sagartia nivea. Ibid. Trans. Linn. Soc. xxi. 274. Tenby, 368, Frontisp. 



Annals N. H. Ser. 3, vol. i. p. 415. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

 Form. 



Base. Adherent to rocks ; little exceeding the column. 



Column. Smooth, or slightly corrugated : studded on the upper half 

 with suckers, which form somewhat conspicuous warts. Substance 

 fleshy. Form cylindrical; the height often exceeding the diameter. 



Disk. Flat or slightly concave ; the margin scarcely undulate. Outline 

 circular. Radii conspicuously marked. 



Tentacles. About two hundred, arranged in four distinct rows ; of 

 which the first and second contain each twenty -four ; the third forty-eight ; 

 and the fourth, which is marginal, about one hundred. Those of the first 

 row, when extended, are about as long as the diameter of the disk ; the 

 others diminish gradually, the outer row being small, and often papillary. 



Mouth. Sometimes raised on a cone, which at other times disappears ; 

 frequently thrown into lobes. Lip slightly tumid. Throat ribbed. 



Acontia. Emitted freely and copiously. 



Colour. 



Column. A light olive drab, slightly varying in intensity; becoming 

 paler towards the lower half, which is often marked with alternate longi- 

 tudinal bands of white and drab tint. Suckers whitish. 



Disk. Opaque white without markings, except that, when fully ex- 

 panded, a grey tinge spreads in a circle, near the bases of the tentacles. 

 Occasionally a very faint tinge of yellow surrounds the mouth. 



Tentacles. Pure snow-white, opaque, except when much distended with 

 water; without any markings either on the body or around the foot. 

 • Mouth. Lip and throat pure white. 



F 2 



