4 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 291 



oceanographic data were available only in tabular form from Lamont 

 Geological Observatory. Data in this form, however, are of little 

 value to the biologist seeking an overall view of the physicochemical 

 environment. Therefore, the oceanographic data were analyzed and 

 compiled by hand as vertical sections of oceanographic parameters 

 along meridians and latitudes. Seven groups of sections were con- 

 structed along meridians between 25° west longitude and 160° west 

 longitude; a pair of sections was made along 60° south latitude from 

 25° W to 160° W. A brief survey of the major features of Antarctic 

 oceanography is supplemented by the detailed examination of the 

 vertical sections, and. several previously suspected features of the 

 oceanography of the Antarctic Ocean are verified. 



The analysis of oceanographic parameters has provided the infor- 

 mation necessary for the determination of the many facets of the 

 horizontal and vertical distribution of Bathyteuthis ahyssicola. 

 Furthermore, now that this environmental information has been com- 

 piled, it can be used for determining and comparing the distributions 

 of all pelagic species occurring in the Antarctic Ocean. 



Studies of this nature are moderately common in the literature of 

 biological oceanography. In the field of systematics and biology of 

 the Cephalopoda, however, this approach has not been taken because 

 few large collections of oceanic squid, and particularly of bathypelagic 

 species, have been available for study. Therefore, analyses of geo- 

 graphic variation and ecological factors governing distribution are 

 presented for a bathypelagic squid for the first time. 



A work of this scope is accomplished only with the aid and co- 

 operation of other people and organizations. The Antarctic Cephalo- 

 pod Project is supported by the Office of Antarctic Programs, Na- 

 tional Science Foundation (Grants GA 10v3 and GA 253 to G. L. Voss, 

 Institute of Marine Sciences [IMS] Miami). The Department of Biol- 

 ogy of the University of Southern California is responsible for the 

 macrobiological collecting program aboard the Eltanin; I acknowl- 

 edge the careful preservation and handling of specimens by the USC 

 teams and their cooperation with Institute of INIarine Sciences person- 

 nel who have participated in Eltanin cruises. S. Jacobs of the Lamont 

 Geological Observatory made suggestions and supplied listings of the 

 oceanographic data collected aboard Eltamn. 



Additional material and assistance were available from several 

 sources. J. Rosewater provided working space and facilities in the Di- 

 vision of Mollusks, U.S. National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 

 where I examined the type of Benthoteuthis megalofn Verrill, 1885, 

 and miscellaneous collections ; I am grateful to him for reviewing the 

 manuscript. E. H. Backus loaned specimens that I sorted from the 



