SEA ANEMONES
| 1. Sagartia troglodytes | 5. Bunodes Ballii |
| 2. Sagartia venusta | 6. Bunodes gemmacea |
| 3. Actinia glauca | 7. Anthea cereus |
| 4. Actinia chiococca | 8. Sagartia rosea |
The Gem Pimplet (Bunodes gemmacea) is shown on the same plate (fig. 6). It is easily distinguished by the six conspicuous longitudinal rows of large white warts, between which are several other rows of smaller ones. The column is pink or brownish, and the thick tentacles are conspicuously marked by light-coloured roundish spots. It is not uncommon on the south-west coast of England, where it may be seen in the rock pools and on the surfaces of rocks between the tide-marks. Both of the species of Bunodes above mentioned may be kept in the aquarium without much trouble.
All the anemones so far briefly described are quite devoid of any kind of skeleton, the whole body being of a pulpy or leathery consistence, but some of our British species develop an internal calcareous skeleton, consisting of a hollow cylinder of carbonate of lime secreted by the body-wall, and attached to the rock by means of a similar deposit formed in the base, and also, within the cylinder, of a number of thin plates attached to the skeleton of the body-wall and projecting inwards towards the axis, thus resembling, in fact, the skeletons of a number of the tropical corals with which we are familiar. The animals in question are often collectively spoken of as British corals.
Fig. 100.—Bunodes gemmacea, with tentacles retracted
One of the finest of these corals is the Devon Cup-Coral (Caryophyllia Smithii), figured on [Plate II]. It may be found in many parts of Devon and Cornwall, attached to the rocks between the tide-marks, often in very exposed places, but is much more abundant in deep water.
Its skeleton is white or pale pink, and very hard, and is in itself a beautiful object. The animal surrounding this stony structure is of a pale fawn colour, with a white disc relieved by a deep brown circle round the mouth. The tentacles are conical, almost colourless and transparent, with the exception of the deep-brown warts scattered irregularly over them, and are tipped by rounded white heads.