1056 CEPHALOPODA. [Dibranchia 



Fam. CRANCHIID^E, Gray. 



Body of a cuticular or cuticular-gelatinous nature, the arms and 

 fins mostly somewhat fleshy ; not much coloured, partly with luminous 

 tubercles round the eyes ; in some genera there are chitinous ridges 

 and tubercles on the mantle. Arms mostly of embryonal development, 

 with 2 rows of suckers ; club of tentacles with 4 rows, often with a 

 rudimentary or developed fixing-apparatus. Mantle grown together 

 with nape and funnel in three places. The gladius is as long as the 

 body, small, lance-like. 



Genus 1. TAONIDIUM, Pfeffer, 1900. 



Taonidium, Pfeffer, "Synopsis der oegopsiden Cephalopoden," 1900, 192. 

 Type : Procalisthes Suhmi, Hoyle. ? Procalisthes, Lankester, 1884. 



Body smooth, transparent, chromatophores in 8 transverse rows. 

 Spindle-shaped, widest at the anterior third, posteriorly rather abruptly 

 drawn out into a long point. Fin terminal, one-eighth the length 

 of the mantle, slender oviform, rounded posteriorly, heart-shaped 

 at the base. Head small, eyes pedunculate. Arms small, apparently 

 fleshy, without keels and borders. Suckers spherical, with smooth 

 rings. Tentacles fairly long, not expa-nded into distinct clubs ; 4 

 rows of suckers, those near the margins smaller ; horny rings with 4 

 bluntly pointed teeth on the high side. 



One species only. 



1. Taonidium Suhmi (Lankester), Hoyle, 1885. Plate 69, fig. 2. 



Procalisthes Suhmii, Lankester, Quart. Jo urn. Micr. Sci. (n.s.), xxiv, 1884, 

 311, f. 1, 2. Taonius Suhmii, Hoyle in Narr. Chall. Exp., 1885, 472, 

 f. 173, 174; Chall. Rep., xvi, 1886, 192, pi. 32, f. 5-11 ; Index, 57. 



The body is elongated and fusiform, broadest about one-third 

 back, narrowing gradually forwards and tapering to an acuminate 

 point behind. The fin is small, about one-eighth the length of the 

 body, and cordate in form. The mantle-margin is directly transverse, 

 and forms three watch-pocket-like openings between its dorsal and 

 lateral attachments, and at each of the latter of these is an oblong 

 semitransparent piece of cartilage-like material. The siphon is long, 

 reaching as far as the bases of the arms, and tapering ; it opens 

 anteriorly by a transverse slit. The head is small and subquadrate, 

 its anterior end being entirely occupied by the bases of the arms, and 

 the hinder portion of its sides by the large pedunculate eyes. The 

 arms are unequal, the order of length being 4, 3, 2, 1, and on an average 

 about one-fifth the length of the body ; they are slender, tapering, 

 and rounded, and neither keeled nor webbed. The suckers are in 2 

 series, spheroidal, and provided with smooth horny rings. The 

 tentacles are about three-fourths as long as the body, slender, cylin- 

 drical, not expanded into a distinct club ; the extremity bears 4 series 

 of suckers, the marginal ones being a little smaller than the median. 



