12 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 291 



Hoyle. Pfeffer utilized the descriptions of both Hoyle and Verrill, and 

 his description of Bathyteuthis is a composite of the two orignal de- 

 scriptions. Species were listed with their synonyms and distributions. 

 Here, for the first time, Benthoteuthis megalo'ps Verrill, 1885, is synon- 

 ymized with Bathytmithls ahysslcola Hoyle, 1885, although Hoyle 

 had anticipated it earlier (1886). Pfeffer stated that it was difficult to 

 say if Hoyle's and Verrill's specimens belong "exactly" to the same 

 species (p. 173). 



Chun's classic work on the eyes and light organs in deep-sea cepha- 

 lopods (1903) was based on material gathered during the German 

 Deep-Sea Expedition. He made a detailed study of the eye of Bathy- 

 teuthis. Chun placed Benthoteuthis in parentheses after Bathyteuthis^ 

 indicating that it was a synonym. 



Hoyle (1904) reported on the cephalopods captured by the U.S. Fish 

 Commission steamer Albatross during two cruises to the tropical east- 

 em Pacific (1891 and 1899-1900). Two specimens of Bathyteuthis 

 ahysslcola were recorded from off Cape Mala, Gulf of Panama. No de- 

 scription of the specimens was given ; however, a colored illustration 

 was presented, made when the larger specimen was still fresh, and 

 Hoyle commented about slight inaccuracies in the drawing (head and 

 arms too large, nuchal mantle point too pointed ) . In addition, it should 

 be noted that the eyes are too prominent, having been forced out 

 through the eye openings, and that the fins are displaced posteriorly. 

 All of these discrepancies are attributable to stresses of capture. 



Hoyle's (1904a) key to the genera of recent dibranchiate cephalo- 

 pods included Bathyteuthis and Ctenopteryx in the family Bathyteu- 

 thidae. Hoyle mentioned that the association of these two genera in 

 the same family is rather artificial and that further information is 

 necessary to determine their true relationships. 



In the second supplement (1909) to this catalog, Hoyle listed 

 Bathyteuthidae Pfeffer, 1900, and Ctenopteryx, and he gave the 

 synonymy of Ctenopteryx sicuJa (Ruppell) . 



Chun (1910) covered the Bathyteuthidae in his monograph based on 

 the cephalopods collected during the German Deep-Sea Expedition 

 aboard the Valdivia; Bathyteuthis^ in particular, was considered in 

 detail. 



Chun attempted to determine whether Benthoteuthis megaJops Ver- 

 rill or Bathyteuthis ahyssicoJa Hoyle had priority; he decided that 

 the question was answered by the notation "April, 1885" on page 399 

 of Verrill's paper which was published in the Transactions of the 

 Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since Hoyle's description 

 was published in May in the narrative of the Challenger expedition, 

 Chun considered that Verrill's Benthoteuthis had priority by one 



