[ 41 ] CEPHALOPODS OF NORTHEASTERN COAST OF'AMERICA. 
Architeuthis princeps Yerrill.—(King of Giant Squids.) 
Architeuthis princeps Yerrill, Arner. Jour. Science, vol. ix, pp. 124, 181, pi. 5, 
1875. American Naturalist, vol. ix, pp. 22, 79, figs. 25-27, 1877. Trans. 
Conn. Acad., vol. v, p. 210, pi. 17-20, 1879-80. Ainer. Jour. Science, vol. 
xix, p. 288, pi. 12, April, 1880. 
Ommastrephes (Architeuthis') princeps Tyron, Manual of Concliology, p. 185, 
pi. 85, 1879. (Figures copied and description compiled from papers by 
A. E. V.) 
Plates VII-XI. 
This species is distinguished by the length and inequality of the short 
arms, of which the longest (ventral or sub ventral) exceed the combined 
length of the head and body by about one-sixth; by the denticulation 
of the suckers of the short arms, of which there are two principal 
forms, some having very oblique horny rings, with the outer edge very 
strongly toothed and the inner edge slightly or imperfectly denticu¬ 
lated; the others having less oblique rings, with the denticles similar in 
form all round, though smaller on the inner margin; by the stronger 
jaws, which have a deeper notch and a more elevated tooth on the ante¬ 
rior edge; and by the caudal fin, which is short-sagittate in form, with 
the posterior end less acuminate than in the preceding species.* 
This species was originally based on the lower jaw mentioned as No. 
1, and on the upper and lower jaws designated as No. 10, in the first 
part of this article. The jaws of No. 10 were obtained from the stomach 
of a sperm-whale taken in the North Atlantic, and were presented to 
the Essex Institute by Capt. N. E. Atwood, of Provincetown, Mass., 
but the date and precise locality of the capture are unknown. The size 
and form of these jaws are well shown in Plate XI, figs. 1, 2. The total 
length of the upper jaw (fig. 1) is 127 mm (5 inches); greatest transverse 
breadth, 37 mm (1.45 inches); front to back, 89 mm (3.5 inches); width of 
palatine lamina, 58.9 mm (2.32 inches). The frontal portion is considerably 
broken, but the dorsal portion remaining appears to extend nearly, but 
not quite, to the actual posterior end, the length from the point of the 
beak to the posterior edge being 8G.4 mm (3.4 inches). The texture is 
■firmer and the laminae are relatively thicker than in A. Harveyi. The 
rostrum and most of the frontal regions are black and polished, gradu¬ 
ally becoming orange-brown and translucent toward the posterior bor¬ 
der, and marked with faint stria} radiating from the tip of the beak, and 
by faint ridges or lines of growth parallel with the posterior margin; a 
slight but sharp ridge extends backward from the notch at the base of 
the cutting edge, and other less marked ones from the anterior border 
of the aim. The tip of the beak is quite strongly curved forward and 
acute, with a slight shallow groove, commencing just below the tip, on 
each side, and extending backward only a short distance and gradually 
fading out. The front or cutting edge is nearly smooth and well curved, 
the curvature being greatest toward the tip; at its base there is a broad, 
angular notch, deepest externally. The inner face of the rostrum is con- 
# The possibility that this and A. Harveyi may he only the sexual forms of oue species 
is fully recognized by the author. 
