ACTINARIA 



The beauty and the variety of the species of this group 

 entitle them to be called the flowers of the sea. Isolated 

 colonies carpet the sea-floor and the madreporic rocks of the 

 coasts and islands of the Red Sea in great number. They 

 exist in a wide range of colours from pale carnation to vivid 

 scarlet. Associations between actinarians and some kinds of 

 fish are not infrequent. Although fish are normally the diet 

 for these anemones, small fish of the genus Anphiprion 

 (chromides order) sometimes seek refuge among the tentacles 

 of the gastric cavity of the bigger varieties and remain there 

 immune from the stinging properties of their host. 



PLATE 41. (opposite) Gigi Stuart and Sehil. Gigi shot this pelican 

 in its right wing with his spear-gun, but did it so adeptly that it 

 remained quite unharmed. He had approached from underneath, to the 

 utter astonishment of the unsuspecting bird, idling on the surface. 

 Here he holds it gently by one leg. 



236 



