CHAPTER VI. 

 SEA-ANEMONES. 



THE visitor to a rocky coast possesses the greatest advan- 

 tage for the study of the Sea-Anemones. These are among 

 the surprises for the inlander whose get-up is not too fine to 

 allow him to scramble over the rocks. If he has already 

 gained some introduction to the beauties of form and colour- 

 ing in this group, and wishes to get a more intimate knowledge, 

 let him visit some coast village in South Cornwall. 



Anemones, with few exceptions, dislike a muddy shore, and 

 are not very partial to sand ; nor are they easily seen in thick 

 water. But where the cliffs and fringing rocks are hard and 

 insoluble, the waters are crystalline, and every detail of life in 

 the rock-basins, and even on the submerged reefs, can be 

 plainly observed. Such conditions Cornwall offers, and there 

 anemone-life may be said to attain its greatest luxuriance. 



Between the limits of high and low-water the rocks will be 

 found thickly studded with the common Beadlet (Actinia 

 equind), in several well-defined colour varieties. In the rock- 

 pools more Beadlets, with a few large specimens of the Opelet 

 (Anemonia sulcatd] and many young ones. Huge Dahlia 

 Wartlets ( Urticina felina] lurk under gravel at the bottom. 

 Almost invisible, though exceedingly abundant, are the Daisies 

 (Cereus pedunculaius) and the Gem Pimplets (Bitnodes verrn- 

 cpsd). 



For others we must wait until the ebb of the spring-tides 

 brings us a few days of exceptionally low water. Then, when 

 we can get to a floor of a big " drang," like that shown in our 

 frontispiece, we may take such species as the Plumelet 



