CEPHALOPODS OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



317 



Measurements of Galiteuthis phyllura. 



Total leiiijlh including tentacles . 

 Length of mantle (dorsal) 



Fins 



Width of mantle 



Across fins 



Of head 



Length of dorsal arm 



Second arm 



Third arm 



Ventral arm. 



Tentacle 



Tentacle club 



mm. 



"■35° 

 o 230 

 114 

 "35 

 35 

 35 

 33 

 41 

 47 

 57 

 100 

 16 



Type, cat. no. 214325, U. S. National Museum (no. 113 of author's register). 



Type locality. Albatross station 4529, off Point Pinos, Monterey Bay, California, from a depth of 

 780 to 799 fathoms, hard mud and sand bottom; one specimen. 



Distribution, Monterey Bay, California. 



The relationships of the present form are entirely with the only other described member of the 

 genus, the G. armata of Joubin, from the Mediterranean. The two descriptions, however, fail to parallel 

 in a number of minor details, especially in the accoimts of the structure of the 

 tentacles, where Joubin 's figiu-es differ very strikingly in their representation 

 of the hooks and fixing apparatus. Furthermore, in neither his figures nor 

 description am I able to find any allusion to the remarkable apparatus on the 

 stalk. The latter seems altogether too evident to have been overlooked by 

 him unless it was either absent on the Mediterranean specimen, or entirely 

 obscured through poor preservation. 



Nevertheless it was with no little doubt and some misgiving that I event- 

 ually proposed a new specific name for the reception of tlie specimen in hand. 

 This was done on account of my firm belief tliat in cases of habitats of little 

 known species so far removed from one another, where the only alternatives 

 seem to be (i) tlie description of a slightly differentiated form as new, or (2) 

 uniting them and leaving to future generations to work out such differences 

 as may exist, the exigencies of modem science are best served by the 

 adoption of the former course. This seems on the whole a rule less apt to create confusion than 

 the other, for more complete knowledge regarding these animals is as likely to reveal further 

 differences heretofore unnoted, as to establish their identity. In the same connection it should 

 be remembered how very few of the moUuscan species of our west coast, so many of which were once 

 supposed to be inseparable from Mediterranean forms, have actually proved to be so; and it does not 

 appear that the distribution of recent cephalopods has been brought about under such different condi- 

 tions as to constitute an exception to the rule. C. armala is stated by Joubin to be pelagic, and there is 

 no telling at just what point our specimen became entangled in the Albatross dredge, so that this maybe 

 true. If so, a possible reason at once appears for such an exception as that mentioned above, and indicates 

 that further evidence may reduce G. phyllura to the position of an absolute synonym of the older species. 



In any case G. phyllura constitutes a very remarkable addition to the fauna of the North Pacific, and 

 one which can not fail to be recognized when it is recaptured. Those possessing the opportunity to 

 observe the offshore hauls of the coast fishermen, or who tramp the beach after the winter storms, should 

 endeavor to maintain a watch for ftu'ther evidence of the presence of this curious creature in our seas. 



1 Measurements inaccurate due to extreme contractioa of mantle. 

 85079° — Bull. 30 — 12 21 



Fig. li.—Calilcuthis phyl- 

 lura, horny ring from suck- 

 er of sessile arm; camera 

 drawing from mount in 

 balsam. [113.] 



