BATHYPELAGIC SQUID BATHYTEUTHIS 13 



month. Therefore, Chun, in attempting to establish priority, intro- 

 duced further uncertainty that, in spite of Hoyle's attempts to rectify 

 the mistake, has persisted to the present, i)rimarily because of the 

 stature of Chun's monograph. Unfortunately, Chun used the printer's 

 signature date., which indicates only the date that sheet 50 of Trans- 

 actions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences was run off 

 the press. Signature dates are not necessarily valid dates of publication. 



Chun quoted Pfeffer's original familial diagnosis and further stated 

 that he retained the Bathyteuthidae not only on the basis of the known 

 characters, but in addition on the basis of a number of unusual features 

 of the internal structure of Benthoteuthis. Chun emphasized that until 

 that time the only anatomical work had been on Cterwptenjx from the 

 Mediterranean and that this knowledge should not be applied to 

 Benthoteuthi'^. He differentiated these genera on the differences in 

 size and structure of the fins and the absence of light organs in 

 Ctenopteryx. 



Chun's specimens were captured by the Valdivia in the Benguela 

 Current south of the Cape of Good Hope, off northwest Sumatra, 

 southwest of Ceylon, and north of the Chagos Archipelago. All of 

 the specimens were small, ranging from 9 to 18 mm in mantle length. 

 (The largest specimen probably belongs to the new species described 

 from the Bay of Panama.) 



Since two species are represented in Chun's material, it is impossible 

 to know to which species the description refers except in sections 

 where he mentioned individual specimens. Presumably most of the 

 description, and especially that of the eye and internal anatomy, is 

 based on the largest specimen (only 18 mm in mantle leng^th). This 

 probably is the only specimen of Chun's that belongs to the new species 

 described from Panama. 



The description of the species is extremely detailed and compre- 

 hensive, covering both external and internal features. Chun gave de- 

 tails concerning the consistency and gross structure of the skin and 

 muscles. The fumiel organ and olfactory papilla were described for 

 the first time. Chun's observations of 1903 on the structure of the eye 

 were included. He also commented on the structure and position of 

 the light organs. From these observations he deduced that Benthoteu- 

 thf's- is a true deep-sea cephalopod. 



In attempting to determine the relationships of the Bathyteuthidae 

 within the Oegopsida, Chun decided that the family held a truly iso- 

 lated position. He stated that the nature of the buccal membrane 

 connectives to the arms corresponds to the condition in the Enoploteu- 

 thidae, Histioteuthidae, and Ommastrephidae, but that, the form and 

 position of the liver and pancreas preclude any close relationship. 



