CAPE SAN ANTONIO 157 



of soft peaty character thinly overlays a flat rock 

 foundation. Outside of a narrow belt of such 

 vegetable deposit, immediately adjacent to the 

 keys, the bottom takes on the character of a young 

 reef growth, and through perfectly clear transpar- 

 ent water presents the fascinating "marine garden" 

 aspect. There are occasional isolated coral heads 

 of considerable size (Pontes), about which hover 

 many of those brilliantly colored little fish that 

 seem always to be associated with such stations. 

 These little sea children of the spectnmi find secur- 

 ity close to the sting rays of the actinians, and 

 those that do not live about the coral heads and 

 among the caves and holes of a reef follow closely 

 tmder the shelter of floating medusae, relying upon 

 their poison filaments to protect them from their 

 enemies. That the streamers of the Physalia, 

 for instance, afford good protection there can be 

 no doubt, for nearly every floating "Portuguese 

 man-of-war" harbors a little colony of these com- 

 mensal fish. Such a sea bottom as here found 

 is a favored station for many sponges, the sea-fans, 

 purple and yellow (Rhipidogorgia flabellum) and 

 other gorgonians (G. acerosa, heptogorgia, virgulatay 

 and Xiphigorgia anceps), Plexaura, hydroid colo- 



