A. E. VerrlU — North American Cephalopods. 313 



The following description of the coloi's was made from a freshly- 

 caught, adult, male specimen (1 G) ; taken in New Haven Harbor, 

 May 18, 1880. 



Upper surfaces of the body, head and caudal fin thickly covered 

 with rather large chromatophores, which are mostly rounded or 

 nearly circular, except along the middle of the back, where they are 

 more crowded and darker, and mostly have a long-elliptical form 

 (perhaps accidental). 



The chromatophores, when expanded, are light red to dark lake- 

 red, varying to purplish red and pink ; when contracted to small 

 points, they become brownish purple. 



On the head, behind the middle of the eyes, and toward the mar- 

 gin of the caudal fin, the spots are smaller and less numerous, the 

 intervening bluish white ground-color showing more largely. Over 

 most of the dorsal siirface the chromatophores are arranged more or 

 less evidently in circular groups ; usually the central chromatophore 

 is a large, round, dark purplish spot ; this is surrounded by a circular 

 space of whitish ground-color ; and by a circle of roundish chromat- 

 ophores, mostly of different shades of lake-red and pink, and a deeper 

 lying circle of pale canary-yellow ones. On the lower side they are 

 so thinly scattered that they leave much of the translucent bluish 

 white ground-color visible between them ; along the median ventral 

 line the spots are more numerous, producing a distinct median stripe. 

 The caudal fin is clear bluish white beneath, and very translucent, 

 becoming almost transparent near the margin. 



Exposed part of the siphon similar to the ventral surface of the 

 body, but with the spots more sparse, and mostly disappearing near 

 the margin and at the base ; lower side of the head, in front of the 

 eyes, sparsely spotted. Outer and upper sides of the upper arms, 

 and outer surfaces of the ventral pair similarly, but somewhat more 

 densely, specked; both sides of the ventral arms and lower sides of 

 the lateral arms pinkish white and unspotted. Tentacular arms pale 

 translucent, bluish white, with the outer surface, except at base, 

 rather thinly specked with small purplish chromatophores ; the inner 

 surface and upper side of the tip and the suckers are translucent 

 white ; rings of suckers white. 



On the inner surface of the dorsal and lateral arms, between the 

 suckers, there are a few large chromatophores, and a double row of 

 them runs out obliquely on the niusciilar thickenings of the mar- 

 ginal membrane, alternating with the suckers, on each side ; suckers 

 pure translucent, bluish white (becoming yellow or brown in alcohol). 



