ASTRJ1ACEA. 



ILYANTRIDjE. 



THE SCARLET PEAKLET. 



Ilyan thus Mitchellii. 

 Plate VIII. Fig. 6. 



Specific Character. Tentacles thick, conical, short, marked with trans- 

 verse bands. 



Iluanthos Mitchellii. Gosse, Ann. N. H. Ser. 2. xii. 128. M. Edwards, 



Hist. Nat. des Corall. i. 284. 

 lhjanthus Mitchellii. Gosse, Man. Mar. Zool. i. 30, fig. 44 ; Ann. N. H 



Ser. 3. i. 418. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

 Form. 



Column. Stout, somewhat pear-shaped, thickening from the summit 

 for about three-fourths of an inch, whence it gradually tapers to a blunt 

 point, " in the centre of which is a minute wrinkled disk, which the animal 

 does not appear to use as an adhesive sucker." * 



Disk. Very protrusile; not so wide as the body: radii distinct. 



Tentacles. About 36, set in two complete rows; thick, short, conical, 

 and usually curled. The bases of the two rows are in contact, but the 

 outer is fully one-sixth of an inch from the margin, and the inner about as 

 far fx'om the base of the oral cone. 



Mouth. Prominent, seated on a cone. Lip thick, coarsely furrowed. 



Colour. 



Column. Upper parts pale scarlet ; lower two-thirds flesh-white, 

 blotched with scarlet ; lower extremity scarlet. 



Dish. A ring of purplish-black surrounds the mouth, which is suc- 

 ceeded by a wider circle of white ; and the remainder of the disk is 

 pale red. 



Tentacles. Pellucid white, marked on their front faces with numerous 

 alternate bands of opaque white and purple, sometimes taking a diagonal 



* I quote the words of my original description ; but I suspect that this 

 appearance was only the retractation of the terminal point. 



