144 THE GREAT BARRIER REEF. 



species, illustrated by Chromo plate No. I., these tentacles are of the normal type, being simply 

 subulate, cylindrical at their bases, and tapering off to a point at their distal extremities. In the 

 second form, the species represented by Plate II. of the coloured series, the tentacles are 

 distinctly capitate, or knobbed like drum-sticks at their distal ends ; but when seen collectively 

 they present superficially the appearance of closely crowded spheroidal beads. The first-named 

 form, which is the larger, not unfrequently measures as much as two feet in diameter; it may be 

 commonly seen extended to its fullest width in the shallow pools when the tide is down, or, in its 

 half-contracted state, as a blubber-like mass, on the surface of the exposed reefs. The colours 

 in this species are exceedingly variable, and correspond to a remarkable extent with those of 

 the British Opelet Anemone, Aucmonia sulcata, better known, probably, by its formerly familiar 

 title of Anihea cams. Thus, the most ordinarily occurring tints, of both the tentacles and the 

 oral disk, are a light fawn or pinkish-brown hue, but in some instances the fawn-coloured 

 tentacles are tipped with magenta. As in one variety of Anthca cerciis, it not uncommonly 

 happens that while the tentacle tips are coloured magenta, the basal portions of the tentacles, 

 and the entire area of the oral and tentacular disk, are a pale sea-green. A more beautiful, 

 but somewhat rarer, variety of this species occurs, in which all the tentacles are golden- 

 brown at their bases and a rich royal blue throughout their distal halves. The intervening area 

 of the oral and tentacular disk is reddish-brown, inclining in the neighbourhood of the mouth 

 to orange-yellow. In some respects this huge anemone appears to agree with the Red Sea 

 Discosonia gigaiitca of ForskSl. Professor Haddon, however, who has collected this species in 

 Torres Strait, and made careful dissections of it, is satisfied as to its structural distinction, 

 and has paid the author the compliment of associating his name with its specific designa- 

 tion as Discosonia Kciiti, in a paper generally descriptive of Torres Strait species, com- 

 municated to the Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society. It was observed of this variety 

 when fully extended and in complete repose, that the tentacular disk exhibits a tendency to 

 pleat itself into six symmetrical folds, as illustrated in the upper figure of Chromo plate No. I. 



In the second, or bead-tentacled species of Discosoma above referred to, an almost equal 

 amount of colour variation obtains. In this type, the tentacles and oral disk commonly exhibit a 

 mixture of shades. In one of the most ordinarily recurring varieties, the spheroidal bead-like 

 tentacles occur in irregularly-mixed patches of grey, white, lilac, and emerald-green, the disk being- 

 shaded with tints of grey, while the oral orifice is bordered with bright yellow. An illustration of 

 a segment of this characteristically-tinted variety is represented by the upper figure of Chromo 

 plate No. II. The lower figure in the same plate depicts a segment of a rarer variety of this 

 species, collected at Thursday Island. The oral centre in this example was yellow, the general 

 surface of the tentacular disk fawn-brown, and all the bead-like tentacles were a brilliant apple- 

 green. Although apparently not growing to quite such large dimensions as the preceding species, 

 the diameter of from twelve to eighteen inches, to which it commonly attains, represents a by 



