168 GONATUS, ONYCHOTEUTHIS. 



Family IX. OXYCHOTEUTHID.E. 



The principal character of this family is the development of 

 hooks n})on the arms, as a means of prehension ; they replace 

 the sucking disks to a greater or less extent, according to the 

 several genera. A few fossil forms occur. 



Genus GONATUS, Gray. 



G. AMCENA, Moller. PL 73, fig. 290. 



Body cylindrical, tapering, acute behind ; fins rhombic, not 



one-third the length of the back. ^ 



Norway; Greenland. 



Genus ONYCHOTEUTHIS, Lichteustein. 



These animals are solitary in habit, frequenting the open sea, 

 and especiall}'^ banks of gulf-weed. Some of the species have an 

 immensi; geographical distribution ; as 0. Banksii, from the 

 Arctic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope and Indian Ocean. 

 The peculiar arrangement of suckers, forming a circle at the 

 base of each tentacular club, enabling the animal to use the two 

 clubs in conjunction, when necessary, give an immense increas^e 

 of power. They suggested the obstetric forceps of Professor 

 Simpson. 



O. Banksii, Leach. PL IS, figs. 291-294. 



Body very elongate, cylindrical, acuminate behind ; head with 

 postero-dorsal, longitndinal, small, prominent ridges; fins rhom- 

 l)oidal ; sessile arms conic-subulate, winged on the back, unequal, 

 in length 2, 3, 4, 1 ; cups with a fleshy excrescence, compressed, 

 pear-shaped ; tentacles very extensile, the clubs armed with a 

 double series of hooks, of which the outer row is mijch the 

 largest, with a basal and sometimes an apical group of cups. 

 Shell dark brown, lanceolate, pennate, with a short central keel, 

 thin. Ordinary length of body, 6 inches. 



I unite a large number of nominal species under this name, 

 the examination of numerous specimens and of the various 

 ligures having convinced me that their characters are illusory. 



Distribution nearly universal; collected in all the oceans at 



numerous localities, equally in arctic and tropical waters. 



