154 A HANDBOOK FOR SOUTHPORT. 



siderable time, but it requires a frequent change of 

 water. It is about an inch and a half in diameter, but has 

 the power of depressing itself almost to flatness; the colour 

 varies considerably, from dull pale red to liver colour, 

 streaked and blotched with green and blue the latter 

 tint predominates. The tentacles are commonly of a 

 paler red than the body, interspersed with some quite 

 blue. 



Actinia alba (White Sea Anemone?). Mr. Graves has found 

 specimens which he thinks may be this species, although 

 it is said to be confined to the rocky coasts of Cornwall. 

 The specimens varied from half to three-fourths of an 

 inch in diameter ; the colour was dirty white, with white 

 lines or continuous strings of white oblong spots ; the 

 tentacles were nearly colourless, with white patches, and 

 in some instances the pellucid tentacles seemed to contain 

 numerous rows of minute white bead-like spots. The alba 

 is not so sensitive to the touch as other species, and is 

 found from May to the end of August. 



Actinia coriacea. Sometimes found in considerable numbers. 

 It buries itself in the mud and sand, but lives for some 

 time in clear water. The colours are full dull red, blotched 

 and marked with green and dark brown ; the tentacles 

 are white, olive, and red intermixed, and when expanded 

 in broad sunshine are truly beautiful, extending consider- 

 ably beyond the body on all sides, frequently measuring 

 two inches or more in diameter. When at rest the 

 tentacles are all drawn inside, and the exterior surface of 

 the animal so nearly resembles the mud and sand on 

 which it is fixed, that it may readily be overlooked. 



