426 THE CORYNACTIS. 



counterpart of these parts in Caryophyllia SmitJiii, 

 so that we can scarcely avoid considering it a nearer 

 approach than the Actiniae to this Madrepore. 



In taking food, such as a morsel of meat presented 

 to it, the Corynactis does not protrude the lips to 

 embrace it, nor close the tentacles over it, like the 

 Actinise in general ; but dilates the oral orifice slowly 

 and uniformly until the lips form a circle strongly 

 crenated, of great width, nearly as wide indeed, as 

 the entire disk, within which the stomach, like a broad 

 shallow saucer, is seen, with the coils of ovarian (?) 

 filaments lying all over its bottom and sides. Into 

 this gaping cavity the morsel is drawn, and then the 

 lips gradually contract and embrace it, finally protrud- 

 ing in a pouting cone. 



Now for colours. The most common hue is a pale 

 and very delicate rose or flesh-colour, with the rim a 

 brilliant coral- scarlet, or an equally brilliant emerald- 

 green ; in the latter case, the body is sliglitly tinged 

 with lilac. The delicate tint of the body is lost 

 towards the base, which is of a whitish-brown. The 

 disk is of the same colour as the body. When the 

 rim is scarlet, the tentacles are pure white ; or rather 

 the body is pellucid with white warts, and the globose 

 head is also white. When the rim is green, the ten- 

 tacle-warts are umber-brown, and the centre of the 

 head is of the same hue. The size of these varieties 

 does not exceed, so far as I have seen, a quarter of 

 an inch in diameter at the base, about one-sixth across 

 the disk, and about the same in height. 



A larger variety, half-an-inch in width of base and 

 in height, is of a rich sienna-brown, the rim and the 



