FLATFISHES. 81 



nature. By perseverance, however, I captured several, 

 and found them to he the One-spotted Gohy fGoiius 

 unipunctatus J; a tiny fish ahout two inches long, and 

 well marked by a spot of rich dark blue on the dorsal 

 fin. It proved a lively and pleasing tenant of the 

 Aquarium. 



Lying flat on the mud, in many cases with not 

 more than an inch of water above them, enjoying the 

 light and warmth of the sun, were multitudes of Pleu- 

 ronectidm of several species, such as the Brill, the 

 Plaice, the Dab, and the Sole. All that I saw were 

 very young, from an inch to two inches iu leagth. 

 Though easily caught, they are of little value, for they 

 do not live long in a tank, and are Uninteresting from 

 their sluggish habi-ts, as they lie perfectly still on the 

 bottom for hours together, trusting for concealment to 

 the similarity of their russet colour to that of the sand. 



By digging in the sand some specimens of the 

 Lannce f Ammodytes) were discovered ; a slender 

 silvery fish, which has the habit of burrowing into the 

 wet sand on the retreat of the tide ; and also some 

 Bivalves, as Pullastra aurea, and Venus casina. But 

 the most interesting thing to me was the great multi- 

 tudes of Actinim that were expanding their flower-Mke 

 disks on the surface of the mud beneath the shallow 

 water. I was for some time disposed to consider this 

 as a strange species, partly from its colour, but prin- 

 cipally from what appeared to me its unusual locality 

 and habit ; but I am at length persuaded that it is the 

 Daisy Anemone C^- iellis) ; though widely differing 

 from those individuals which dweU in the hollows of 

 the honeycomb limestone near Torquay. 



