1060 CEPHALOPODA. [Dibmnchia. 



Fam. SEPIOLID^l, Leach. 



Body short, rounded at the aboral end ; fins rounded, inserted on 

 the middle of the length of the body ; buccal skin without suckers ; 

 tentacular arms completely retractile ; the dorsal arms of the first 

 pair are hectocotylized in the male. Head large ; eyes large and 

 partly covered by the skin. Shell chitinous, narrow and shorter than 

 the body, or absent. 



Genus 1. SEPIOLA, Schneider, 1784. 



Se.piola, J. G. Schneider, Samml. verm. Abhandl., 1784, 116. Type: S. 

 Rondeletii, Leach. Fidenas, Gray, 1849. 



Body short, purse-like, mantle united to the head cervically, and 

 ventrally supported by a ridge fitting a groove on the funnel ; arms 

 with 2 or 8 . ows of pedunculated suckers, the rings of which are not 

 toothed, and 8 rows of very small ones on the tentacular clubs. Fins 

 oval, dorsal. Gladius lancet-form, only half as long as the body, 

 margins thickened. First left arm hectocotylized. 



These pretty little cuttlefishes are active creatures inhabiting 

 very various depths of water in the laminarian and coralline zones ; 

 they live mostly buried in sand. They are regarded as a delicacy by 

 the Italians. 



Only about ten species are known : European seas ; Japan ; Poly- 

 nesia, ; Mauritius ; Singapore ; and Australasia. 



1. Sepiola pacifica, T. W. Kirk, 1882. 



Sepiola pacifica, T. W. Kirk, T.N.Z.I., xiv, 1881 (1882), 283; Chall. Rep., 

 xvi, 17, 220 ; Index, 58. 



Body smooth, long bell-shaped. Fins moderate, front margin free. 

 Tentacles vermiform, as long as head and body together ; club thickly 

 and irregularly studded with minute suckers. Sessile arms unequal, 

 the ventral or lowest being the largest ; all armed with suckers ar- 

 ranged in 2 alternating rows, and extending right to the tip of each 

 arm. Head stout, eyes prominent. Colour : Above, flesh-colour ir- 

 regularly and profusely spotted and blotched with purple, the ground- 

 colour of the head and anterior part of the body being almost hidden, 

 spots becoming finer as they approach the posterior end of the body ; 

 below, pale flesh-colour, spotted as above, but spots much larger 

 and farther apart ; the funnel, sides of sessile arms, and under-surface 

 of fins white ; tentacles white, with exception of a row of purple 

 spots on the back of the club. (T. W. Kirk.) 



Total length, 14 in. (35mm.); length of body, 1 in. (25-5 mm.) ; 

 length of head, 04 in. (10 mm.). 



Type apparently lost. 



Hab. Wellington (type) ; Akaroa Harbour, in 6 fathoms (H. S.) ; 

 Auckland Harbour, in 4 fathoms (H. S.). 



