1054 CEPHALOPODA. [Dibranchia. 



Fam. ONYCHOTEUTHIDJE, Gray. 



Body fleshy, mostly intensively coloured, head and arms well 

 developed, body slender, posterior end tapering to a point, with medium 

 to large fins of transverse rhomboidal shape. Eye with a deep sinus. 

 Transverse and longitudinal folds of the neck well developed ; folds 

 on the back of the neck are also present. Funnel with 2 adductors on 

 each side, fused together. Fosse of funnel triangular, deep, bordered 

 by a membrane. Arms angular, with natatory and protecting borders ; 

 cups in 2 alternating rows, very often with a tubercle, rings usually 

 smooth. Tentacles with 4 rows of cups in the young, the median 

 rows transformed into hooks as growth proceeds. Valve of funnel 

 slender, pointed in front. Shell horny, lanceolate. 



Genus 1. ONYCHOTEUTHIS, Lichtenstein, 1818. 



Onychoteuthis, Lichtenstein, Berliner Akadeuiie, 1818. Type: 0. Bergii, 

 Licht., 1818 (= Loliyo Banksii, Leach, 1817). 



Arms with 2 rows of suckers, the rings of which are not toothed ; 

 tentacles thick, their clubs with 2 rows of strong hooks, and at the 

 base a rounded group of suckers, with which they are supposed to 

 unite the two tentacles and use them in conjunction as a point (Tappui 

 where great strength is required in capturing their prey. Gladius 

 lancet-form, with a conical commencement.. 



These animals are solitary in habit, frequenting the open sea, and 

 especially banks of gulf-weed. Some of the species have an immense 

 geographical distribution. 



1. Onychoteuthis Banksi, Leach, 1817. Plate 66, fig. 3. 



Loliijo Banksii, Leach, Zool. Misc., iii, 1817. 141 ; Blainville, Man. Malac., 

 1825, 367, pi. 3, f. 1. Onychoteuthis Banksii, d'Orb. et Fer., Ceph. acet,, 

 1839, 332 ; Ad. G.R.M., iii, pi. 3, f. 4 ; Man. Conch, (i), 1, 168, pi. 73, 

 f. 291-94 ; Call. Rep., xvi, 39 ; Hoyle, " Notes Manchester Museum," 

 No. 18, 1904, 19. O. Bartlingii, Lesueur, Journ. Philad. Acad., ii, 

 1821, 95, pi. 9 ; Chenu, Man. Conch., i, 30, f. 74 ; Fischer, Man Conch., 

 pi. 1, f. 7, 8 ; C.M.M., 3 ; M.N.Z.M., 3. 0. Lessoni, Ferussac, Tabl. 

 des Cephalopodes, 1825, 60 ; Lesson, Voy. Coq., Zool., ii, 1830, 241, 

 pi. 1, f. 3. 0. Bergii, Lichtenstein, 1818, Zool. Mus. Berlin, 1592, No. 4, 

 pi. 19, f. f-a. 



Body very elongate, cylindrical, acuminate behind ; head with 

 postero-dorsal, longitudinal, small, prominent ridges ; fins rhom- 

 boidal, the hinder end in the adult moderately produced, so that the 

 fin is wider than long ; sessile arms conic-subulate, winged on the back, 

 unequal, in length 2, 3, 4, 1 ; cups with a fleshy excrescence, com- 

 pressed, pear-shaped ; tentacles very extensile, the clubs armed with 

 a double series of hooks, of which the outer row is much the largest, 

 with a basal and sometimes an apical group of cups ; the carpal fixing- 

 upparatus consists of 7 to 10 suckers and pads ; the fifth or sixth 

 proximal hook of the dorsal row is suddenly displaced towards the 



