SEA-ANEMONES.
The visitor to a rocky coast possesses the greatest advantage for
the study of the Sea-Anemones. These are among the surprises for the
inlander whose get-up is not too fine to allow him to scramble over
the rocks. If he has already gained some introduction to the beauties
of form and colouring in this group, and wishes to get a more intimate
knowledge, let him visit some coast village in South Cornwall.
Anemones, with few exceptions, dislike a muddy shore, and are not very
partial to sand; nor are they easily seen in thick water. But where
the cliffs and fringing rocks are hard and insoluble, the waters are
crystalline, and every detail of life in the rock-basins, and even on
the submerged reefs, can be plainly observed. Such conditions Cornwall
offers, and there anemone-life may be said to attain its greatest
luxuriance.
Between the limits of high and low-water the rocks will be found
thickly studded with the common Beadlet (_Actinia equina_), in several
well-defined colour varieties. In the rock-pools more Beadlets, with a
few large specimens of the Opelet (_Anemonia sulcata_) and many young
ones. Huge Dahlia Wartlets (_Urticina felina_) lurk under gravel at the
bottom. Almost invisible, though exceedingly abundant, are the Daisies
(_Cereus pedunculatus_) and the Gem Pimplets (_Bunodes verrucosa_).
For others we must wait until the ebb of the spring-tides brings us a
few days of exceptionally low water. Then, when we can get to a floor
of a big “drang,” like that shown in our frontispiece, we may take
such species as the Plumelet (_Metridium senilis_), the Rosy Anemone
(_Sagartia rosea_), the Snake-locked (_Cylista viduata_), the Globehorn
(_Corynactis viridis_), and others to be named hereafter.
Now these, I think, make a fairly representative list, though it by no
means exhausts the British species. However, if the reader can manage,
during two or three visits to the seaside, to find and identify the
species named, he will be fairly well acquainted with the Anemones of
the shore, as distinguished from those found solely in deep water,
which can only be explored with the trawl or dredge. With this class we
have no concern in the present volume, as the deep water is beyond our
province; except so far as certain of them may come ashore attached to
deep-water mollusks and crabs.
[Illustration: THE BEADLET.]
The Beadlet being at once so widely distributed round our shores,
and so abundant wherever found, becomes very suitable for use as a
type of the whole class. We are not to be tempted into repeating
or plagiarising the gushy nonsense that has been so lavishly poured
out by many writers, in which the Anemones have been commended to
popular notice because of their wonderful resemblances to flowers.
Even the older naturalists were not free from blame in this matter,
for they named the animals zoophytes (animal plants) and anthozoa
(flower-animals), names that have stuck, and of which we cannot be rid.
The term “anemone” (wind-flower) itself is utterly absurd when applied
to the Actinia. Beyond the brilliant colours and the petal-like rays
of certain species, there is no parallel between these creatures and
flowers, and the institution of such poetical similes in too many cases
only serves to hide the true nature of these interesting forms of life.
On a rocky coast at low-water we shall find the Beadlet thickly
studding the rocks that stand up high above the sand or pebbles. Those
that are on the perpendicular face of the rock are smooth hemispheres
of dark crimson, bottle-green, olive, or ruddy-brown, with a more or
less vivid thin margin of blue where the base is attached to the rock.
Lower down, a little above the water, we shall find them more elongated
and hanging downwards, some with the rays or tentacles partly extended,
but the whole animal looking somewhat flaccid. _In_ the water, however,
whether it be of the rock-pool or the actual sea, the tentacles are so
widely spread that, looking down upon them, we can see but little of
the fleshy column or even of its base. These tentacles are never very
long in this species, but they are fairly numerous, there being 192 in
an adult specimen, arranged in six series. Their general tendency is
to arch over towards the column, and so hide the row of blue eye-like
spherules that peep out between the column and the tentacles. Within
the radius of the tentacles is an almost flat, smooth expansion of
flesh, called the disk, in the centre of which, on a conical eminence,
is the mouth. The mouth is the opening of a bottomless sack which
serves as stomach, and from the internal cavity, into which the
digested food falls, there are channels which convey it all over the
body, whilst the indigestible portion is rolled up and thrown out by
the way it entered.
The entire quantity of solid matter in an Anemone is very small, as
may be seen in certain species (_i.e._, the Snake-locked Anemone) that
become exceedingly thin and flat in the daytime, but expand into a
tall graceful column at night. In a similar fashion the tentacles are
constantly withdrawn by becoming very small; and the full expansion of
these and of the column is alike affected by the absorption of much
water.
Most of the Anemones attach themselves to rocks, shells, or weeds,
by means of the broad base of the column; others have a rounded base
which is thrust down into sand and there retained by inflation. They
can move on this base, much after the manner of a snail or slug, but
more slowly; some, such as the Opelet, constantly inflate it to such an
extent that it becomes a swimming bladder, buoying them to the surface
of the water, along which they float inverted.
Reproduction takes place in three ways: first, a division may take
place across the disk and mouth, and this be continued right down the
column to the base; second, buds may appear on the disk or column and
develop into complete Anemones; third, by eggs, which are usually
retained until the germs have developed a row of tentacles, when they
are cast out from the mouth in batches. This last is the commonest
mode; and the extruded young at once attach themselves to the surface
upon which they fall.
The Beadlet gets its popular name from the row of blue bead-like
spherules to which notice has already been directed. In one
well-marked variety of this species the spherules lose their azure
hue and become quite white, whilst the normally blue line at the
base becomes flesh-coloured, or is entirely absent. There are many
other colour variations which it would be foreign to the purpose of a
simple handbook to enumerate in detail. We will mention one, because
otherwise it might be taken for some other species: if the ground
colour of its column is green, it may be marked with short lines or
dashes or spots of yellow; or if it is dark red or liver-coloured, it
may be studded with green dots. It is one of the hardiest kinds to keep
in an aquarium, where it will soon multiply by discharging a number of
tiny replicas of itself, though sometimes these will be sent out as
mere eggs, which will not get their tentacles until a week or ten days
later.
[Illustration:
SNOWY ANEMONE. ROSY ANEMONE.
]
There are several species of Anemone which, though they differ strongly
in the eyes of a naturalist, may easily be confused with the Beadlet
on a cursory glance when they are in the “button” or closed condition.
Two of these are represented in this illustration. The Rosy Anemone
(_Sagartia rosea_) is representative of an entirely different genus
from that to which the Beadlet belongs. When expanded the column
is cylindric in shape, its base not nearly so broad as that of the
Beadlet. Near the base the colour is buff, deepening above into a
rich ruddy-brown; on the upper part there are a number of little
suckers, to which fragments of shell and gravel adhere. The tentacles
are rosy, with an inclination to become purplish, and some of them
are indistinctly marked by two transverse bands of a darker hue. The
disk is pale olive, and the mouth white or pinkish-white, not raised
like that of the Beadlet. Its usual habitat is in rock-pools that are
uncovered only at very low water. One called the Pallid Anemone (_S.
pallida_) is, I feel sure, a mere colourless variety of _S. rosea_.
[Illustration: ORANGE-DISK ANEMONE.]
The Snowy Anemone (_Sagartia nivea_) is in form much like the
last-mentioned species, but its column is coloured pale olive-brown,
paler near the base. The whitish suckers on the upper part are more
prominent than in the Rosy Anemone. The disk, the tentacles, and the
mouth are all a beautiful white. It will be found in the low-lying
rock-pools.
There is another species, nearly allied, that has white tentacles
with grey tips, but the disk is of a dull, orange tint, with a dusky
border at the roots of the tentacles. This is the Orange-disk Anemone
(_Sagartia venusta_), a species that likes to hide its brown column in
a hole or a crevice of some overhanging rock or in a cavern. It is very
local.
_S. venusta_ is very shy, and readily folds in her tentacles--in truth,
she seldom opens them very widely. _S. rosea_, on the other hand, will
fully display her charms immediately after she has been transferred
to an artificial home. _S. venusta_ is but little inclined to rove
about an aquarium, but whenever she does so she appears bound to leave
a portion of her base behind her. In the course of about ten days
this detached portion develops tentacles, and sets up an independent
existence.
There is a group of which the members are invisible unless their
tentacles are expanded, and even then they harmonise so well with their
surroundings that they are seen only with difficulty. Of course, when
the eye has got accustomed to their forms and colours, and knows what
to look for, it finds them, if they are present.
I have shown a small rock basin to a friend whose eye is pretty keen
where natural objects are concerned, but he has utterly failed to see
the crowd of Anemones in full expansion that were there, until several
had been almost touched by my finger in pointing them out; then a
minute or two later he was finding out the others that were there,
without any assistance from me. One of the species concerned was--
The Cave-dweller (_Cylista undata_), which is exceedingly liable to
variation in form and colour. It is difficult to obtain, owing to its
awkward habit of fixing its base in some narrow chink of the rock,
and spreading out its broad disk above the crevice. Unless one is
very careful in excavating the troglodyte, one may cut it in two, or
hopelessly smash it. The column is of a dirty-looking drab colour,
shading off into grey near the summit. The disk is variable in
colour, and indefinite in detail; but in general effect it is a minute
patchwork of black, brown, and yellowish-drab lines radiating from the
whitish mouth, and minutely dotted with white. From each angle of the
mouth there is a very distinct, short, opaque white line. The tentacles
are numerous, and variable in length; their ground colour is a clear
grey, with several cross bands of white, and at the base there are two
small patches of white surrounded by black in such fashion as to form
an obscure B. This is a pretty constant mark in the identification of
the species, though the white patches are sometimes missing.
The Cave-dweller, though not easily seen at first, is widely
distributed upon our shores, whether rocky or sandy, and careful
examination of the pools on hands and knees will probably reveal
large numbers. Occasionally we shall come upon a cleanly-hollowed
basin in the rocks, about two feet across and almost as deep, the
interior thickly coated with a dense growth of coralline. In this
the Cave-dweller and the Gem Pimplet delight to grow, and in such
situations they can be more easily obtained than from the chinks of
rock that will not admit the fingers.
The Daisy Anemone (_Cereus pedunculatus_) is similar at first sight to
the Cave-dweller. Why it was named daisy it is difficult to imagine,
for I have seen no specimens that suggested the most remote resemblance
to that flower. It is similar to the Cave-dweller both in form and
habits, but it is more soberly coloured, the very broad disk being
dark brown or black, crossed by very fine red lines radiating from the
mouth and continued along the sides of the tentacles. The brown of the
tentacles has a yellowish bias. Near the base of some tentacles there
are two white bands separated by a patch of brown; others are uniformly
coloured throughout, save for tiny specks of white sprinkled without
order over them. The tentacles are very numerous (400 or 500), and
mostly small. The Daisy is found in the crevices of pools left by the
ebbing tide rather than in those of perpendicular rock-walls.
The Scarlet-fringed Anemone (_Sagartia miniata_) has a crimson-brown
column with buff-coloured suckers. The disk is greenish-grey with
darker mottlings. The tentacles are clear glassy, of a brown tint
with darker rings; on the surface a pair of longitudinal dark lines
converging to one point at the tip of the tentacle; at the base two
patches each of black and white alternating. The outer row of tentacles
differ by having the interior coloured with orange or scarlet, which
shows clearly through the thick but colourless substance of the
tentacle; from these the Anemone gets its name of Scarlet-fringed. It
inhabits holes in the rock-pools, and in the rocks of deep water, but
does not affect such deep and narrow crevices as the Cave-dweller.
Occasionally, when we are engaged in stone-turning at low-water,
we shall come across a colony of the pale spectral forms of the
Snake-locked Anemone (_Cylista viduata_), but it is one found only
with difficulty, because in the daytime it compresses itself into a
dirty yellow button as thick as about six of the pages of this book,
with pale lines radiating from the centre. In this condition it offers
to the eye the appearance of a limpet-shell, or a flake of rock. I
once found a colony of seven individuals on the back of the Gabrick
Spider-crab (_Maia squinado_), where no doubt they had been planted
by the crab with a view to getting artistic effects. This suggests to
us that some of the deep-water species, not referred to here, may be
obtained by examining the shells of oysters, quins, whelks, etc., which
are dredged in deep waters.
Supposing you have been fortunate enough to find a small-sized stone
supporting two or three of these compressed Anemones (_Cylista_),
and having taken it home have placed it in a thin glass tumbler of
sea-water for observation. At night you look at the glass to see how
the strangers are doing, and behold with astonishment the change that
has taken place. The depressed yellow button has gone, and where it lay
there stands a tall and elegantly-formed column, two inches in height,
tapering from the base and the summit to the middle, and supporting
a crown of many pellucid tentacles. The inner row of these stand up
and arch outward, the outer ones hang out a little way and then droop
with perfect grace. The contrast between the two conditions is really
startling; and as you observe the tentacles slowly but continuously
writhing you admit the propriety of the English name.
[Illustration: THE OPELET.]
The column is marked with a series of paler longitudinal lines, and on
its upper portion there are small suckers, though the creature does
not appear to use them. The distinctive mark of the species is its
long, lithe, transparent grey tentacles. There is a very fine black
line running along each side of these, and at right angles to them is a
couple of bands of white--one at the base and one about the middle.
On the rocks that are uncovered only at the recess of the spring
tides, and in the shallow pools a little higher up the shore, we shall
find abundant supplies of Opelets (_Anemonia sulcata_), here buried
in holes with only the tentacles protruding, there attached to the
bare rock-surface and exhibiting a substantial brown column, short
but very broad, and bearing an innumerable, almost disorderly crowd
of snaky-tentacles, ever writhing and intertwining. In some specimens
these are a lovely lustrous green with lilac tips; in others grey,
or white, or yellow. The grey and the green are the most abundant
forms, and we may take the satiny green as the typical form. One
peculiarity will soon strike him that makes its acquaintance for the
first time--that unlike the other Anemones he knows, he cannot see one
with tentacles withdrawn. There is no button stage in the Opelet, but
there is a corresponding restful condition when the waters have receded
from its rock, and the previously solid-looking column has collapsed,
and the flaccid tentacles hang in an empty, lifeless manner among the
weeds. The Opelet does not settle down permanently on one spot. He
likes a change, and so never attaches his broad base very strongly.
It is easy to get him off the rock when he is wanted for an aquarium
specimen, and it is equally easy for him to slide off, and, inflating
his base to a great size, float on the surface of the water with his
tentacles waving downwards.
The Opelet attains a great size, and then appears to delight in sitting
on the broad leathery fronds of _Laminaria_, with which his olive
column harmonises well.
I had a specimen for about eight months that practically filled a
bell-glass, nine inches in diameter. Stationed in the middle, he could
nearly touch the glass all round with the tips of his tentacles; as a
matter of fact he was nearly an inch away, which meant that the area
occupied by his tentacles was at least seven inches across, and when
he chose to inflate himself fully he could improve upon this. He was
a very voracious feeder, and there was always room in his capacious
column for a good meal. Alas! he was a victim to gluttony. One day I
brought home a Butterfish, or Gunnel (_Murænoides guttata_), about six
and a half inches in length. Thinking he was large enough to take care
of himself, I put him in with the big Opelet. He had been there but a
few minutes, when I looked in to see how he was settling down in this
new world. He was already dead or insensible, in the snake-like folds
of the green tentacles which were tightly coiled around the fish. I
attempted a rescue, but these tentacles are wonderfully adhesive, and
feel as though they had been painted with patent glue: they adhere on
the slightest touch.
I was too late to save his life, so I did not trouble to recover
the corpse. Before long it had reached the mouth, which extended
considerably in order to accommodate it; but it was a little while
before the intelligence of the Opelet could be so brought to bear on
the matter in hand that the Anemone could comfortably get the Gunnel
“end on.” Now the task was easy, and although the Gunnel considerably
exceeded the Opelet in length, the Anemone tucked him safely in. It
was not a comfortable arrangement in spite of the elasticity of the
Opelet; and the fish, as could plainly be seen from outside, had to be
slanted. Whether this caused a rupture of any vital part, or whether
the Gunnel was too much for the Opelet’s digestive powers, cannot
now be ascertained; but the Opelet sickened, and though the fish was
discharged next day, the Anemone never recovered, but finally died
about a week after this inordinate meal.
The late Mr. Gosse experimented upon the Opelet as an addition to our
breakfast table, and declared it good. He says that “the dish called
_Rastegna_, which is a great favourite in Provence, is mainly prepared
from the Opelet.”
Perhaps some of our readers would like to experiment in the same
direction whilst they are at the seaside; in that case we should be
glad to have their experience and candid opinion on the suitability of
our native Anemones for human food.
Dr. Andrew Wilson, in the days of his youth, desirous of emulating
Mr. Gosse’s example, cooked a specimen of the Dahlia Wartlet, but the
result was not such as to confirm him in this line of alimentation,
though he admits that the Dahlia is probably a tougher subject than the
Opelet, and requires different treatment to make it equally inviting as
a _bonne bouche_.
One of the most delicately beautiful of our Anemones is the Gem
Pimplet (_Bunodes verrucosa_), which may be sought in rock-pools near
low-water; also at low-water, half buried in the sand, at the base of
rocks.
Its name of Pimplet is a soft way of describing its column, which is
crowded with pimples. As a rule these are of a light pinky-brown or
rosy tint, diversified by six vertical bands of larger white pimples.
In several specimens I have before me as I write, however, the column
is uniformly grey with a pinkish tinge, the pimples being of the same
hue and of equal size. The disk is dark grey, marked with fine lines
of the darker rays proceeding to the tentacles, and the space around
the elevated mouth is yellow, marked with a small clear spot of carmine
at the angles of the lips. The tentacles are conical, rounded, with
blunt tips; the underside transparent grey, the upper side darker, with
many thin lines and broad rounded bars of opaque white across it. When
the tentacles are withdrawn and we have the rounded top of the button
stage, the effect of the six white rows of pimples converging at the
summit and forming a star pattern is very pretty. But when the whole
of the tentacles are fully expanded, the outer row bending slightly
downwards, the next row curving upwards and outwards, whilst the inner
ones stand more or less erect, the effect of the delicate pencillings
and the pellucid greys in contrast with the warmer tints of the column
is exceedingly fine.
When the specimens are growing in a coralline-lined basin, however,
this peculiar style of beauty does not render them at all conspicuous;
on the contrary, the Gem Pimplet is a species that will not fall to
the hasty collector who rushes with a mere glance from pool to pool,
but it will soon reward the careful and patient investigator who is
willing to recline at the side of a small pool until his eyes have
closely scrutinised every inch of the bottom, and given the fixed
objects a chance of revealing themselves by a slight movement.
Owing to the transparency of the tentacles in _B. verrucosa_, an
interesting point in the natural history of the species may be observed
without difficulty. The larvæ are retained by the Pimplet until
they have developed their first series of tentacles, and the hollow
tentacles of the parent are made use of as convenient receptacles
in which to store the brood until it is ready to be sent forth into
the surrounding waters. Four or five of these may be seen in one
tentacle. For some time after their discharge these young Pimplets are
exceedingly beautiful. They are pellucid, and in them the remarkable
structure of anemones may be clearly seen. When first excluded they are
nearly globular, about one-twelfth of an inch in diameter, crowned with
a double circlet of tentacles, the outer arching outward and downward,
the inner more erect. Within a few minutes they have increased in size
to one-sixth of an inch, by the mere absorption of water, their tissues
becoming relatively more transparent, and their forms protean. From the
globular form they have quickly changed to one more cylindrical, or to
a cylinder with a bulbous base, then to a long inverted cone.
The Pimplet is easily removed; he has not got that unpleasant habit
of squeezing himself into a crevice, like the Cave-dweller; and
when placed in the aquarium he shows no resentment of his change of
quarters, but makes himself at home and reveals his beauties at once,
even before he has well fixed his base.
An allied species, the Red-specked Pimplet (_Bunodes ballii_), may be
found under stones at low-water, but is more frequent in the deeper
water outside our zone. It is of a warmer hue than the Gem, its
pimples less prominent, and each one with a tiny crimson speck at
its centre; the interspaces between the pimples being freckled with
crimson. In the aquarium it will be found to select an obscure angle
between the floor of the tank and a stone. It is very sluggish, and
readily settles down to aquarium life.
In strong contrast to the quiet loveliness of the little Pimplet, is
the massive and showy beauty of the Dahlia Wartlet (_Urticina felina_).
The Pimplet reaches up to the light and adds grace to its beauty;
but the Dahlia Wartlet spreads itself out as widely as possible, so
that its diameter exceeds its height about three times. In spite of
its size and its magnificence, one has got to learn _how_ to see it
before it appears at all plentiful; _then_, if we are on the rocks
near low-water, we shall find it in abundance. It is fond of crevices
and places where gravel and broken shell accumulate. Beneath these
it buries its broad base and attaches bits of shell and stone to the
many whitish suckers with which the upper part of its dark crimson
column is thickly studded, and when the tide recedes and leaves it,
the collector has to look, not for an expanse of brilliant tentacles,
but for a little rounded heap of gravel. In permanent pools, however,
where it has crimson weeds and white corallines around to harmonise
with its bright hues, the Wartlet seldom closes, except for the purpose
of securing its food; there its sucker-warts are little used, and
consequently they dwindle in size. The tentacles are thick, transparent
cones, marked with transverse bands of dark crimson and white. The disk
is of a transparent olive hue at the circumference, merging into full
crimson nearer the centre, where the disk swells into a low elevation
with the mouth in a depression at its summit. It is a very voracious
creature, and its large mouth and capacious stomach enable it to
swallow half-sized specimens of the Shore Crab (_Carcinus mænas_),
sea-urchins, dog-whelks, and small fishes. On this account it is not so
suitable as an inmate of the aquarium as the others we have described.
It is subject to great variation of colour and markings; that which we
have described and figured is perhaps the most plentiful form, but by
no means the most beautiful.
[Illustration: THE DAHLIA WARTLET.]
There is a pretty little species called the Globehorn (_Corynactis
viridis_), to be found by the observant eye, growing in patches on
the under surface of overhanging rocks near to low-water, on our
south-western coasts. It is seldom a quarter of an inch in stature,
and its breadth is a little more; but they are always close together
in colonies of from twenty to fifty individuals. It is very variable
in colour, but as a rule the members of one colony will resemble each
other very closely, in this as in other respects. The peculiarity
which separates it from the several species we have been describing,
is in the form of the tentacles. These, instead of being more or less
conical, and ending in a point, consist of globular heads set on
stalks--from which circumstance the popular name Globehorn is derived.
The column is of even breadth throughout, the base slightly broader,
transparent, but coloured white, grey, yellow, green, brown, crimson,
or scarlet. Probably the most common form is that which has the
column and disk of emerald green. The footstalks of its tentacles are
colourless and transparent, but studded with rich brown warts, whilst
their heads are rich crimson. The thick-lipped mouth is bright green.
At low-water we shall probably come upon a rock upon which is a group
of dumpy masses of clear white jelly. Carefully remove some of these to
your collecting bottles, and in the evening, when they have had time to
recover from the shock, they will astonish you. The squat jelly-lump
erects itself into a shapely alabaster column, a couple of inches high,
and near the top a rounded parapet, above which the lobes of the crown
will spread out, densely clothed with feathery tentacles. It is well
named the Plumose Anemone (_Metridium senilis_).
In the straightness and tallness of its column, the Plumose Anemone
is suggestive of a deep-water species that you may sometimes have
brought in shore by a fisherman who has discovered your weakness for
what he will term “curios.” This is the Parasite Anemone (_Cribrina
effoeta_), which will almost always be found perched on a full-sized
shell of the common whelk (_Buccinum undatum_), or the red whelk
(_Fusus antiquus_). Yet the whelk-shell will not be tenanted by the
whelk, but by the Hermit-crab (_Eupagurus bernhardus_). The Parasite,
when fully expanded, is about four inches high, and the measurement
across the tentacles is not much less. Its column is pale drab in
colour, the tentacles creamy white, and the disk somewhat conical.
To see a weak creature like the Hermit hauling a heavy-looking shell
along is a trifle amusing; but when Cribrina’s huge tower of apparently
solid flesh is perched on top of that, the picture is absurd. Owing to
its large size and its unhappiness when deprived of the society of the
Hermit, the Parasite is not a desirable aquarium specimen, except where
one has very large tanks affording sufficient depth and range for the
Hermit-crab. It is not clear what advantage each of the parties to this
strange co-operation gain, though it is easy to propound theories to
account for it.
Such partnerships (_commensalism_) are by no means uncommon in Nature;
and there is one subsisting on our own coasts between another species
of Hermit-crab (_Eupagurus prideaux_) and the Cloaklet Anemone
(_Adamsia palliata_). It is probable that the Anemone derives advantage
from being carried about from place to place, and thus has better
opportunity for securing food than if stationary; whilst the crab is
probably saved from being swallowed by a big-mouthed fish, owing to
the unpleasant odour of the Anemone. One other way in which the Hermit
may benefit is by feeding on the crumbs that fall from the Parasite’s
table. I have had specimens brought to me that had been hauled up on
“spiller lines,” the fishermen characterising the Anemone as _an enemy_
for stealing his bait. Here probably the advantage gained by being
perched atop of the whelk-shell alone enabled the Parasite to reach
and swallow the bait on the spiller hook. It should be added that the
base of the Anemone gradually absorbs that portion of the whelk-shell
to which it is attached, as may plainly be seen on removing a large
individual from the shell.
It may be presumed that a large number of our readers not only desire
to be able to identify the natural objects they encounter by the deep
sea, but would like, also, to watch the habits and conduct of some of
them under more favourable conditions for continuous observation than
the constant ebbing and flowing of the tides will allow on the shore.
For their benefit let us add a few words.
Certain of the Anemones, which we have already indicated, adapt
themselves to the artificial life of an aquarium very readily, and
without any great exhibition of shyness. For this purpose it is
advisable to take medium-sized specimens, rather than to look out
for the largest example we can find, remembering that the younger
individuals in time become large; but what is of greater importance
they are less likely to be injured by removal. In many cases patient
search will show us examples of such species as the Beadlet attached
to small stones, and it is much better for our purpose to take these,
stone and all, than to disturb the attachment of others to the rock.
Others may be found on weeds, especially the broad smooth fronds of
the great oarweed; but some of the more delicate in texture must be
removed by chipping off with cold-chisel and hammer a flake of the rock
with Anemones attached.
Anemones are not great consumers of oxygen, and consequently the water
in the vessels to which they are consigned does not readily become
fouled, except as the result of feeding. Do not give food more often
than once in a fortnight or ten days, but be sure then that it is
suitable food, and in small fragments only. Some people think the best
thing to give to such delicate creatures is a piece of raw steak. It
is probably unnecessary to tell _you_ that we have the best guarantee
of success when we imitate Nature as closely as possible. Anemones in
a state of Nature do not often get a chance of raw beef, except when
a bullock has been washed overboard from a ship and comes in a very
inflated and “gamey” condition, begging the Coastguard to bury it
decently.
If oysters or mussels can be obtained where you are staying, give
Anemones tiny pieces uncooked; or a piece out of the side of a young
sole or plaice. Do not give them fish that is all hard muscle, for they
cannot readily digest it. They require so very little to eat, that we
may easily select that little from a fish that is known to be easily
digestible.
Here, too, let me warn you against a misapprehension that may cause you
to be much concerned about the supposed lack of appetite in your pets.
The nutriment they extract from their food appears to be entirely of
a fluid character; they suck the juices from it, and having done so
completely, what remains becomes pearly white, and having been wrapped
in a thick transparent _glaire_, is thrust out by the way it entered.
Now this excrement is of a very objectionable character, and if allowed
to remain for a short time will infect the whole of the water in the
vessel, and begin to destroy all the life therein: so it must be
removed at once. Persons who have had no previous experience in keeping
Anemones, suppose that the individual fed had no appetite, and had
rejected his food without change.
The ordinary rectangular aquarium is very suitable for the reception of
the Anemones, and a special piece of rock should be selected from one
of the rock-pools to serve them as a residence. This stone should not
cover more than half the floor space of the tank; and it should be very
irregular as regards its surface, pitted with holes and recesses into
which the more retiring species may partially withdraw their columns.
If no suitable piece can be found readily, then one must be made by
means of the cold-chisel and hammer. Look out a rock whose surface is
broken with the holes of the _Pholas_. Taking advantage of these holes
as weakening the rock, a piece of the required size can be marked off
with the cold-chisel, and then by vigorous chipping can be separated.
If a suitable stone can be found ready to hand in the rock-pool,
and it has green weed growing from its surface, you need nothing
better, especially if that weed be the thin membrane-like tubes of
_Enteromorpha_, for it will continue to grow in the aquarium. But
beware of stones with a growth of any of the thick-fronded leathery
olive weeds. For a few days they will look well, but then they will
begin to decay and melt in slime, with a putrid odour that will
assuredly kill everything in a day or two more, and drive you out of
the house.
Should you be staying at the seaside only for a few weeks, and desire
to see as much as you can of these creatures, yet have no proper
aquarium to accommodate them, remember that any vessel not too deep
that allows you to look into it will serve your purpose. Even a
soup-plate, or an old-fashioned saucer may at times serve better
than anything else for observation purposes. But if greater depth be
required, a china “slop-basin,” or a thin glass tumbler may be borrowed
or otherwise brought into requisition.
To convey Anemones from the sea to a distance, it is best to wrap them
lightly in some of the finer seaweeds and put them into a weed-lined
box. This is much better than attempting to carry them in water, and
will be attended with more satisfactory results.