189 



Note on a British Cephalopod— lUex eblanae (Ball). 



By 



William E. Hoyle, 



Keeper of the Manchester Museum. 



A SHORT time ago I received from my friend Mr. J. T. Cunningham 

 a Cephalopod which had been taken by a trawler in the neighbour- 

 hood of Plymouth, with the remark that it appeared to fit well with 

 the description of Ommastrephes eblanse (Ball) as given by Forbes 

 and Hanley,"^ and that it undoubtedly belonged to the genus Illex of 

 Steenstrup. 



I have compared the specimen with all the examples of the genus 

 Illex at my disposal, and satisfied myself that Mr. Cunningham's 

 surmise was correct; and since this species has generally been referred 

 to the category of forms inadequately described^f I have much 

 pleasure in acceding to the suggestion that I should contribute a few 

 notes upon it to this Journal. 



That the Cephalopod belongs to the genus Illex was at once 

 obvious from (1) the smooth siphuncular recess, (2) the absence of 

 fixing pads and cushions at the base of the tentacular club, and (3) 

 the absence of a membranous wing on the third pair of arms. 

 Two species of this genus have been hitherto described, Ulex coindeti 

 [=^ Ommastrephes sagittatus, auctorum 'plurirnorum) from the Mediter- 

 ranean, and Illex illecehrosus from the American coast. Both these 

 have the horny ring of the large tentacular suckers either smooth 

 or with broad truncated teeth, and the small suckers at the end of 

 the tentacular club arranged in eight rows. J In the example from 

 Plymouth the horny ring of the large tentacular suckers is armed 

 with acute teeth, separated by interspaces broader than the bases of 

 the teeth themselves, and the terminal tentacular suckers are in four 

 (rather irregular) rows. 



On referring to the definition of Ommastrephes ehlanse as given 



* Brit. Moll., iv, p. 235, 1853. 



t Steenstrup, Ommatostrephagtige Blaeksprutter, p. 97 (27) ; Hoyle, " Challenger " 

 Cephalopoda, p. 33. 



X Steenstrup, loc. cit., p. 91 (21). 



