68 



PELAGIC FAUNA 



the coast of Mindanao, we caught 49 specimens of Idiosepius pygmceus, 

 which has reddish spots and is almost transparent. This is the smallest 

 of the squids; it has very short arms and measures only 15 millimetres 

 fully grown. We also found it near the Philippines and in the Java Sea. 

 This squid was first described in 1881 by the Dane Japetus Steenstrup, 

 from specimens found in the South China Sea and off Zamboanga in the 

 Philippines. It was later found at a position near Japan and also at two 

 positions off the Moluccas, but had not been seen since 1898. So this 

 was an interesting find. A remarkable octopus is the paper nautilus 

 (Argonauta). The female of this genus lives in a single-chambered, thin, 

 white calcareous shell. The two uppermost arms are very large and are 

 folded round the outside of the shell when they are not being used as oars. 

 The male is quite small and shell-less. Between Mombasa and the Seychelles 

 we saw the remarkable sight of a number of Argonauta ensconced on 

 the top of jellyfish, Crambionella orsini, which drifted in large numbers 

 round the ship (Fig. p. 69). To the best of our knowledge this had never 

 been seen before. 



Besides the special forms of worms which always live pelagically, there 

 are some bristle-worms which leave the bottom on reaching sexual 

 maturity. Near the Seychelles we "landed" several specimens of a fine 

 large bristle-worm, Notopygos gigas, 17 centimetres in length and with 



Nocturnal angling; on the look-out 

 for small fishes and cephalopods 

 attracted by the searchlight. 



