28o 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Measurements of Argonauta bottgeri. 



Total length (to tip of second arms) 59 



End of body to base of dorsal arms 23 



End of body to ventral margin of mantle 21 



Width of body near middle 10 



Width of mantle anteriorly 13 



Width across eyes 13 



Length of — 



Right dorsal arm to expanded portion (inside meas- 

 urement) 15 



Left dorsal arm to expanded portion (inside meas- 

 urement) 17 



Length of — mm. 



Right second arm (inside measurement) 36 



Left second arm (inside measurement) 35 



Right third arm (inside measurement) 28 



Left third arm (inside measurement) 31 



Right ventral arm (inside measurement) 15-H 



Left ventral arm (inside measurement) 22 



Funnel 15 



Diameter of largest suckers 2 



Diameter of shell 31 



Type. — ? 



Type locality. — Unknown. 



Distribution. — Mauritius (Smith); Chagos Islands (Smith); Mas- 

 bate, Philippines (Smith, Hidalgo); China Sea (Smith); Australia 

 (Smith); Hawaiian Islands (Albatross). 



Specimens examined. — A single adult female containing a hecto- 

 cotylus and numerous embryos was taken by the A Ibatross in the 

 surface net at station 3927, latitude, 21° 31' N., longitude, 161 55' W., 

 between Honolulu and Laysan Island. The specimen constitutes 

 catalogue No. 214377 United States National Museum [S. S. B. 165]. 



Remarks. — Argonauta bottgeri is not only one of the smallest 

 species of the genus, but one of the most delicately beautiful as well. 

 Its discovery in Hawaiian waters extends its known distribution many 

 thousand miles to the northeast, and further enables me to publish 

 the first detailed description of the animal. When compared with the 

 Mediterranean A. argo (see Jatta 1896, p. 191, pi. 8, fig. 3, pi. 18, fig. 

 tT'; .IK , ,"/•'':&'- -IsW J 5 -2 9)> which is the only other form of which I have seen a complete 



account, important differences are found to be numerous. Most 

 obvious are perhaps the following: In A. argo the ventral arms are 

 longest, the third pair shortest; the body is shorter and more inflated; 

 also the suckers are larger and more crowded, and the eyes are larger. 

 Details in the shape and proportions of the funnel organ (narrower in 

 A. argo), hectocotylus (also narrower in A. argo), and other structures 

 are also noteworthy. The shell of the present species seems unique 

 in its small size, compact coil, and the circumstance that the auricular expansion at the sides of the 

 aperture, so frequently developed in other species of the genus, are here notable only for their entire 

 absence. 



With the exception of the detached hectocotylus as above described, the male of this species was 

 not encountered by the Albatross, so unfortunately is still unknown. 



Argonauta species. 



Argonauta {argo Linnaeus ?) Berry 1909. p. 418 (locality record only). 



From a depth of 127-128 fathoms in the Pailolo Channel, Albatross station 3857, were obtained a 

 few badly shattered fragments of a shell which is clearly not referable to A . bottgeri [S. S. B. 2 16J. The 

 nearly complete columella shows the shell to have been auriculate in form, which would indicate that 

 the species represented is probably of the group of A . argo and possibly close to A. pacifica Dall. The 

 surface of the fragments shows a fine, almost obsolete granulation. 



FlG. 7. — Argonauta bottgeri, 

 tylus of male I165]. X 



hectoco- 



