ASTRJiACEA. 
JLYANTHIDJE. 
THE SCAKLET PEARLET. 
riyanthiis MitchelUi. 
Plate VIII. Fig. 6. 
Specific Character. Tentacles thick, conical, short, marked with trans- 
Terse bands. 
Iluanthos MitchelUi. Gosse, Ann. N. H. Ser. 2. xii. 128. M. Edwards, 
Hist. Nat. des Corall. i. 284. 
Jlyanthus MitchelUi. 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.” * 
Dish. 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 a.s 
far from the base of the oral cone. 
Mouth. Prominent, seated on a cone. Lip thick, coarsely furrowed. 
Colour. 
Column. Upper pai-ts 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 theii- 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. 
