ZOOPHYTES. 
35 
Class ACTINOZOA. 
Though the total number of species of this class at St. 
Andrews is small, many occur in great abundance, and espe¬ 
cially such cosmopolitan forms as Actinia mesembryanthemitm , 
Tealia crassicornis , and Actinoloba dianthus. The frequent 
occurrence of Sagartia troglodytes , again, at St. Andrews, 
distinguishes it from the shores of the extreme south, as at 
Guernsey. We have not, moreover, the fine Antliea cereus 
of the west and south, which, for instance, in the quiet creeks 
of the Outer Hebrides studs the stems and blades of the 
tangles at the border of the littoral zone, the beautiful greenish 
purple tentacles gently weaving with every swell of the tide; 
neither is the gaudily tinted Sagartia parasitica , so character¬ 
istic of some of our southern shores, to be found between tide- 
marks, nor Adamsia palliata in deep water. Corynactis , the 
stony corals, Zoanthus , and the northern free-swimming 
Arachnactis albida are entirely absent. The places of these 
are filled by swarms of the common forms above mentioned, 
and by some of the rarer types, e. g. Edwardsia , Cerianthus , 
and Peachia , which seem to be characteristic of sandy beaches. 
A remarkable example * of the latter turned inside out occurs 
in my collection. It was mistaken for a curious polyp with 
beautifully arranged longitudinal and transverse muscular 
bundles, and was found inserted in a tunnel in the sand in 
this condition in Cobo Bay, Guernsey. It is simply a large 
Peachia everted. 
Amongst the Alcyonarians the phosphorescent Pennatula 
occurs in great beauty, and replaces the Pavonaria of the west, 
while with Virgularia it also affords a diagnostic mark from 
the south. The fine Gorgoniadte of the latter region, again, 
have no representatives at St. Andrews. 
* I am indebted to Dr. Cooper, of St. Peter Port, for the speci- 
F 2 
men. 
