NO. 3554 ANEMONE—HAND AND BUSHNELL 7 
while F’. grandis is some 18 times longer than this. The size of F. 
phellroides is not known. ‘There is some question, certainly, whether 
F. bathamae and F. grandis are cogeneric with F’. phellioides. Stephen- 
son’s original description of F’. phellioides is very brief and no diagnosis 
of nematocysts was given. ‘The new species agrees with the type 
species in having more mesenteries distally than proximally, but 
differs from F’. bathamae in this respect. Also, no catch tentacles have 
been observed in /’. grandis or F. phellioides, but they are present in 
F. bathamae. F. grandis resembles F. bathamae in its restricted re- 
tractors whereas [’. phellioides is reported to have circumscript retrac- 
tors. For the time being it seems most reasonable to treat all these 
species as members of the genus Flosmaris, and what is most needed 
is fresh material of /’. phellioides. When F. phellioides is rediscovered 
it should be possible to make a more detailed comparison of these 
species and, hopefully, to understand better the nature of this genus. 
Some interesting observations on F’. grandis in captivity have been 
made by Mr. Edward Arthur Marshall, a student at Oakland City 
College. We received these observations through Mr. John Holle- 
man, a biology instructor at the College. Mr. Marshall has kept 
individuals of this species in unaerated aquaria for several months 
and has observed that when detached from the substrate and placed 
on sand in water that the animals actively burrow and reattach. 
Burrowing is apparently accomplished by extensions of the pedal disc 
and undulations of the body. After attaching at a given point on the 
bottom of an aquarium with a 6.5 cm. deep layer of sand, movement 
from place to place occurs, and individuals were recorded as having 
moved a distance of 13 cm. overnight. The captive animals accepted 
a wide variety of foods including almost any small, soft-bodied 
organism. They readily accept small flies, the larvae of several 
insects, gnats, small spiders, small gastropods, and land slugs, brine 
shrimps, copepods, and small marine organisms in general, but refuse 
earwigs and small beetles. When food objects are dropped near an 
anemone, they extend the upper part of the body from their burrow 
toward the food. Successful capture of the food usually follows. 
When an injured, but living, house fly is placed on the surface of the 
aquarium, the anemone actively extends toward the surface of the 
aquarium, and captures it with its tentacles. This occurs only when 
the fly is still active and moving but trapped in the surface film. One 
might wonder if this last described behavior occurs in nature, and 
while no absolute answer is possible, it is readily demonstrable that 
many, many insects are indeed blown into the Bay. 
The behavior described may then be one which is adaptively 
valuable to the species and a perfectly normal bit of behavior as 
well. 
