146 THE PARASITIC ANEMONE. 



ness ; the others diminish in regular gradation until 

 those of the margin do not exceed j^th in length and 

 a proportionate diameter. All the tentacles are of 

 the same form ; though this varies a little indifferent 

 ' specimens, sometimes heing hlunt and nearly cylindri- 

 cal, at others gradually tapering and drawn out to a 

 fine point. They are pellucid, faintly tinged with 

 flesh-colour, cream-yellow, or purplish, each one 

 being always marked with from one to five pairs of 

 lines or dashes of a dull-purplish colour, running 

 down the two opposite sides to the tip. Those rows 

 which form the marginal fringe are frequently divided 

 into alternate patches of colour, a patch of pale 

 tentacles, then one of purplish, six groups of each 

 colour completing the circle. These alternations do 

 not conceal the lateral marks of the tentacles, and 

 though sometimes beautifully distinct, they are at 

 others scarcely perceptible. 



The surface of the disk is pellucid yellowish-white, 

 marked with a circle of six squarish patches of opaque 

 white, corresponding to the lighter portion of the 

 marginal fringe : the lips are also opaque white. 



This fine and very distinct species is exceedingly 

 abundant in Weymouth Bay, extending from the deep 

 water of the offing, even into the narrow harbour ; but 

 is never met with between tide-marks. It is, as its 

 name imparts, parasitic in its habits, though not so 

 strictly but that we frequently find specimens adhering 

 to stones; and in captivity it is by no means uncommon 

 for an individual to detach itself from its native site, 

 and adhere to the bottom of the vessel, or even to 

 crawl a little way up the perpendicular side. Gene- 



