ANEMONES AND SPONGES 



381 



colour, through beautiful shades of deep 

 and briUiant crimson, to orange, lilac 

 and pur])le : in some specimens the disc 

 is a beautiful crimson, while the short, 

 stout, yet gracefully tapering tentacles are 

 pure white. Although common on most 

 shores, for it hves near low-tide mark 

 and in the deep water 

 beyond tide mark, the 

 Dahlia Anemone may 

 often be overlooked, so 

 closely, when contracted, 

 does it resemble its sur- 

 roundings. Its columnar 

 body bears upon the 

 outer surface numerous 

 suckers, which attach 

 themselves to small frag- 

 ments of pebble and 

 shell, so that when the 

 Dahlia Anemone con- 

 tracts its tentacles, it 

 looks at a short distance 

 like a little rounded 

 hump in the sand. If, 

 however, we seek for it 

 amongst the deep rock 

 pools close to low-tide 

 mark, we shall be pretty 

 sure to be rewarded by 

 a view of this hand- 

 some Anemone in all 

 the glory of its fully ex- 

 tended tentacles, when 

 it does, indeed, look like 

 a flower of the deep. 



In contrast to the 

 giant Dahlia Anemones are the diminutive 

 little Corynactis Anemones, not much 

 larger than good-sized peas, which abound 

 on certain parts of the Devon and Cornish 

 coasts. Usually living together in colonies, 

 of lovely white, green, red, or magenta 

 tints, they present a very beautiful 

 appearance. 



One of the most remarkable of our 

 Anemones is the so-called " Parasitic 

 Anemone " {Adamsia parasitica), which is 

 generally to be found attached to a whelk- 

 shell tenanted by a Hermit Crab. The 

 relationship existing between the Hermit 

 Crab and the Anemone is a very interest- 

 ing one, for the latter is not really ]:)arasitic, 

 inasmuch as it does not live upon, and at 

 the expense of, the Hermit Crab. These 

 two animals are really what is termed 



49 



" commensals," or messmates. The ad- 

 vantage to the Anemone of the means of 

 comparatively rapid transit to ])laces 

 where food is to be found is obvious : 

 while if we watch the Hermit Crab tearing 

 with its pincers the food it has found, 

 \vc shall see that many fragments escape 



■J. ^xi 

 THE DAHLIA ANEMONE. 



and are captured by the tentacles of the 

 Anemone, and quickly devoured. This 

 Anemone is a very graceful Uttle creature ; 

 its columnar body measures about two 

 inches in height by one inch in diameter, 

 and is striped with chocolate and white 

 markings ; the delicate fluffy-looking ten- 

 tacles are of a whitish or pinkish hue. 

 When angered or alarmed this Anemone 

 throws out from its mouth, and from 

 large pores on its body, masses of white 

 glutinous threads, in which are embedded 

 innumerable spindle-shaped bodies com- 

 posed of carbonate of hme, and at the 

 same time it gives forth a very strong, 

 unpleasant smell. These two peculiar- 

 ities of the Anemone are, in turn, probably 

 useful to the Hermit Crab, in discouraging 

 the attentions of unwelcome visitors, who 



