[ 133 ] CEPHALOPODS OF NORTHEASTERN COAST OF AMERICA. 
Loligo Pealei Lesueur—(Continued). 
Variety pallida Verrill. 
Loligo pallida Verrill, Rep. Invert. Viuey. Sd., in Rep. U. S. Com. Fisli and 
Fisheries, vol. i, p. G35 [341], pi. 20, figs. 101, 101 a, 1874. 
Tryon, Man. Conch., p. 143, pi. 52, figs. 141,142 (descr. and figs, copied from 
preceding). 
Verrill, Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. xix, p. 292, 1880. 
Loligo Pealei V&Y. pallida Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., vol. v, p. 317, pi. 28, figs. 
1-6, 1881. 
Plate XXVI, figures 1-4. Plate XXVII, figures 1-4 (pens). Plate XXVIII, figures 1-9, 
Plate XXIX (anatomy J ). Plate XXX (young). Plate XXXI, figures 1-3. Plate 
XXXII, figure 2 (anatomy 9 )• 
Body rather elongated, more or less stout, according to state of disten¬ 
tion or contraction,* tapering backward to a moderately acute posterior 
end, more acute in the male than in the female. Caudal fin long-rhom- 
boidal, with the outer angles very obtusely rounded, and varying, 
according to age, in the ratio of its length to its breadth, and greatly, 
also, in the proportion that its length bears to that of the mantle.f The 
length of the caudal fin, in proportion to that of the body (mantle), 
although variable, normally increases with age, even after sexual matur¬ 
ity. In this species, with specimens having the mantle from 100 mm to 
125 mm long, the ratio of the fin to the mantle usually varies from 1:1.80 
to 1:1.90; with the mantle 150 mm to 175 mm long, the ratio usually becomes 
1:1.05 to 1:1.75; in the largest specimens, with the mantle 2G0 ram to 
400“ m long, the ratio varies from 1: 1.50 to 1:1.65, rarely becoming 
1:1.75. The ratio of the breadth of the caudal fin to the length of the 
mantle, in the larger male specimens, ranges from 1 : 2.12 to 1 :2.40, 
varying considerably according to the mode of preservation; in the 
larger females it varies from 1:1.70 to 1:2.12. 
The anterior ventral edge of the mantle recedes, in front of the siphon, 
in a broad curve, leaving an obtuse angle at either side, opposite the 
lateral cartilages; from these angles it again recedes, on the sides, in a 
concave line, and then projects considerably forward, forming a promi¬ 
nent median dorsal lobe, which gradually tapers from the base, and 
* The mantle, when the gill-cavity is distended with water, has a larger size than 
when the water is expelled by the contraction of its walls, which is usually the con¬ 
dition in which specimens die. Moreover, when the large stomach is distended with 
food, and when the ovary is distended, iti the breeding season, with eggs, the form is 
Btouter than usual. 
tThis variation is largely independent of sex, and is due partly to the ordinary 
changes during growth, partly to the condition of the muscular tissues at the time of 
death, and partly to the effects of the alcohol in which they have been preserved. 
These latter causes, in the case of preserved specimens,moro or less obscure the effects 
of growth in causing the proportions to change. 
The most marked effect of strong alcohol is to reduce the diameter of the body and 
the breadth of the caudal tin to a proportionally far greater extent than it does the 
length of the mantle and fin. Therefore, with specimens that have been preserved 
in too strong alcohol, the females resemble the males in form, and the males often look 
like a different species, on account of their unnaturally long and narrow fins and very 
slender bodies. 
