236 A. E. Verrill — Mollusca of the New England Coast. 



Octopus gracilis Verrill, sp. nov. 



Size of our only specimen small. Body slender, elongated, broadest 

 just back of the gill openings, obtusely rounded posteriorly. Whole 

 surface, above and beneath, smooth, with neither cirri nor verrucae. 

 Head moderately large. Eyes rather large and prominent, with 

 smooth lids. Umbrella small, the web extending only a short distance 

 and about equally between the dorsal and lateral arms. Arras very 

 slender, elongated, tapering to very thin tips, the third pair much 

 longer than the two upper pairs, but all of about the same thickness 

 at base. The dorsal arras are not half the length of the third pair ; 

 the second pair is but little longer than the dorsal and about the sarae 

 in thickness ; the ventral arras are both broken off near the base. The 

 suckers are small and diminish very regularly frora the base to the 

 tip of the arras. Those on the two lower pairs of arms are rather 

 raore openly arranged, the spaces between the consecutive suckers, 

 being about double that on the upper arms, while the two I'ows are 

 closer together ; on each of these arms three to five of the suckers 

 near the base stand nearly in a median line, which is not the case 

 on the upper pairs of arms. 



Length of body, 11"'"^; greatest breadth, V""'; breadth of head, 

 6'5™™; frora posterior end of body to edge of web between the arras, 

 17™"; length of dorsal arras from mouth, 19"""; diameter near base, 

 l.gmm. length of 2nd pair, 21"'"'; length of 3rd pair, 42""". 



Color, in alcohol, yellowish white, covered with large purplish 

 brown chroraatophores, darkest on the upper surface of the head, 

 between the eyes. Inner surface of the arras and suckers yellowish 

 white with a purplish spot in front and behind the base of each sucker. 



Station 2084, in 1290 fathoras, one specimen, female (No. 38,431). 



This specimen is probably young of a species that grows to a larger 

 size. It differs, however, frora all described species in the remarkable 

 elongation of the third pair of arras corapared with the first and 

 second pairs ; all the arms are also remarkably slender, and the body 

 is peculiarly elongated and smooth. It is very certain that it is not 

 the young of any of the known species. 



Bela Rathbuni Verriii, sp. nov. 



Shell large, rather stout, sub-fusiform, witli an elevated acute 

 spire, forming more than half the total length of the shell. Whorls 

 seven besides the nucleus, moderately convex, with an impressed, not 

 very oblique suture. The whorls of the spire are pretty strongly 

 angulated or cariiialed a little above the middle by a revolving 



