77 



pi. 27. Actinia verrucosa. Pennant's Brit. Zoo!., vol. 4, 

 p. 49. A. nionile, (young) Temploton in Mas^. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. 9, p. 303. Hydra geinmacea, Stewart's Elcni., vol. 2, 

 p. 451. A. senilis, Flem. Brit. An., p. 498. 



There are four varieties of this species, which it will be 

 necessary to notice : 



First. Body warty ; the warts large in vertical rows. 

 Hydra geramacea, Stew. Elem.. vol, 2, p. 451. Actinia 

 gernmacea, Ellis and Solander's Zoopb., p. 3. Turton's Lin., 

 vol. 4, p. 104. Actinia verrucosa, Pennant's Brit. Zool., 

 vol. 4, p. 49, 



Second. Body warty ; warts equal, distinct, and scattered 

 irregularly. Templeton in Mag. Nat. Hist,, vol. 9, p. 303. 



Third. Body warty; warts small, obscure, and distant. 

 Actinia equina, Pennant's Brit. Zool., vol. 4, p. — . 



Fourth. Body smooth, clouded with scarlet; tentacula 

 with red and white. Actinia crassicomis, Turton's Lin., 

 vol. 4, p. 100. Stewart's Elem., vol. 1, p. 393. A. truncata, 

 Turton's Lin., vol. 4, p. 101. 



Hub. In pools on stones, near low water mark ; West 

 Combe, Lansallos, Chapel Hill, Whitsand bay, Goran, &c. 

 From deep water, on shells and stones. Common; and is 

 very commonly left dry by the receding tide; these are very 

 tubercular and covered with fragments of stones. 



This is amongst the largest and most gaudy of the British 

 Actiniidce, and from the great difference in the nature of the 

 localities in which it is found, it is liable to a great many 

 variations in colour and appearance. It is most commonly 

 about two inches, or two inches and half in diameter, but 

 one specimen, when fully expanded, measured six inches 

 and half across the oral disc ; this was procured from deep 

 water, but it is most commonly smaller. It is generally 

 of a red colour, but is not unfrequently striped with yellow, 

 blue, and sap green; the surface is most commonly studded 

 with tubercles, which in different individuals are differently 

 arranged. In some the tubercles are large and arranged 

 in longitudinal bead-like rows; these are found near the 

 shores and in the neighbourhood of sandy soils. In others, 

 the tubercles are smaller and without any regular distribu- 

 tion, and in some they may be said almost to have dis- 

 appeared. These tubercles are always of a lighter colour 

 than the surrounding parts, and have very frequently ad- 

 hering to them, fragments of shells and stones, by which 

 the animal conceals itself from view. In a contracted state 

 it is hemispherical or conoidal, with a broad base and a low 

 rounded apex ; in an expanded state it is shortly columnar, 



K 



