PLESIOTEUTHIS, CEL^NO, DOSIDIOUS. 175 



tinued over the back, with an acute notch behind and a rounded 



one aboA-e. 3 or 4 inches long. 



Straits of Messina (very rare). 



The tentacles shorter than tlie sessile arms, and with suckers 

 only on the clul)s afford a ready nu'ans of identif'yiuii- tliis o-cnus 

 and species. 



Genus PLESIOTEUTHIS, Wagner. 



Two species have been discovered in the Solenhofen slate : 

 liassic. 



P. PRiscA, Wagner. PI. 77, fig. 338. 



Genus CEL^NO, Miinster. 



Two species from the Liassic formation of Solenhofen are 

 referred to this genus. 



C. CONTCA, Wagner. PI. 77, figs. 349, 340. 



Genus DOSIDICUS, Steenstrup. 



D. EscHRTCHTii, Steenstrup. 



The type and only species of tlie genus, its characters are 

 contained in the generic diagnosis. No figure has Ijeen pub- 

 lished. The locality is ratlier uncertain : it was at first 

 believed to have been taken at Marseilles, but it is now more 

 probable that it is West Indian. The suddenly reduced arms 

 and their long, narrow ends, puts one in mind of Octopus Jiloi<a. 

 Howell, from the same locality. 



Family X. OMMASTREPHID.E. 



Genus OMMASTREPHES, D'Orbigny. 



These animals are gregarious, frequenting the open sea in all 

 climates. Extensively used as bait in the Newfoundland cod- 

 fishery, they are also the principal food of the albatross, the 

 larger petrels, the dolphins and the cachelots. They are called 

 "sea-arrows" or "flying squids" by fishermen, on account of 

 their habit of darting out of the water, often to such a height 

 as to fall on the decks of vessels. The egg-masses are in large 

 clusters, floating on the surface. Pens of four species are found 



