Collected by the late Dr. J. I. Northrop. 187 



would be completely hidden by the expanded tentacles, and even 

 in preserved specimens they are only to be found bj^ careful ex- 

 amination. What their appearance and form may be in the liv- 

 ing condition cannot therefore be stated here. 



The occurrence of this species in the Bahamas as well as in the 

 Bermudas suggests the possibility of its identity with one of the 

 forms described by Duchassaing and Michelotti, and in stud^'ing 

 their descriptions two species are found to be worthy of remark 

 in this connection. The iirst of these is the Actinia aster men 

 tioned by Ellis C'86) and described by him as having " a thick, 

 fleshy, smooth and almost cylindrical stem, ending abruptly at 

 the top, which is provided with circular rows of tentacles." This 

 description contains nothing that is particularly distinctive, but 

 nevertheless Duchassaing and Michelotti ('66) have identified with 

 it a form which they describe as about an inch in height and with 

 the tentacles ringed with white and brown, while the body and 

 disc are " colores en rougeatre et en bleu tres-clair." Taking 

 this latter description as a guide for the identification of A. aster 

 it will be seen that while making the necessary allowances for the 

 uncertainties which are associated with color descriptions, there 

 is a certain vague approximation of the coloration to that of 

 Diplactis bermudensis ; nevertheless the discrepancies are too 

 great to allow of an identification of the two forms. Dr. North- 

 rop's notes contains no statements as to variations in color of D. 

 bermudensis, and until it is found that these exist and that they 

 approximate the coloration described for A. aster, it seems better 

 to consider the two forms distinct. 



Another form also presents possibilities in this connection, 

 viz., the Anemonia dejjressa of Duchassaing and Michelotti ('60;, 

 a form with a large disc yellowish in color, with tentacles shorter 

 than the diameter of the disc, and tinted with shades of blue and 

 reddish (" leurs nuances sont le bleu et le rougeatre"). A figure 

 is given of the disc and tentacles of this form and might answer 

 for those of D. bermudensis, and if the mention of " le bleu" 

 were omitted, the color descriptions would correspond fairly 

 well. Of the two possibilities I think the identity of D. bermu- 

 densis with A. depressa is the moi'e probable one, but even here 

 the uncertainty is too great to justify the identification without 

 further evidence, and for the present it seems wiser to allow the 

 name used here to stand. 



