400 A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopods. 



No. 5. "A fifth was found by Mr. Moore, near Flat Point, east 

 coast, A description was sent to Mr. Beetham, M. H. R., who, I 

 believe, intends communicating it to this society." 



From the above descriptions, alone, it is not possible to decide with 

 certainty whether these specimens belong to the Architeitthis-groxiY>, 

 or whether they are more neai'ly allied to the Onyahoteiithis-grony), like 

 Mbroteuthis, for the armature of the tentacular arms is not known. 

 The broad-lanceolate form of the pen, with a small conical hood at 

 the end, would seem to indicate affinities with Architeuthis, and the 

 presence of true suckers, on the sessile arms, and small size of the fins, 

 are favorable for that view. Altogether, the descriptions indicate 

 that this New Zealand species is related to, and perhaps identical 

 with, the one discovered at the Island of St. Paul, and first named by 

 M. Velain Architeuthis 3Iouchezi. It is to be hoped that Mr. Kirk 

 will soon give detailed descriptions and figures of the portions in his 

 possession. 



Plectoteuthis grandis Owen = Architeuthis grandis. 



PlecMeutltis grandis Owen, Descriptions of some new and rare Ceplialopoda, Part 

 II.-<Trans. Zool. Soc. London, xi, part 5, p. 156, pi. 34, 35, June, 1881. 



Professor Owen, in the paper quoted, has given a somewhat detailed 

 description, with figures, of the large cephalopod arm, long preserved 

 in tlie British Museum, and which had previously been pretty fully 

 described by Mr. Saville Kent, in 1874, whose description has already 

 been quoted by me (see pp. 241, 242). Professor Owen, like Mr. 

 Kent, fails to state to which pair of arms the specimen belongs. This 

 is a very important omission, for in Arcltiteuthis, as in many other 

 genera, the ai-ms belonging to different pairs ditter in form and struct- 

 ure. The describers of this arm would doubtless have been able to 

 ascertain to which pair it belonged by a direct comparison with the 

 arms of Ommastrephes, or any other related form. 



For this arm, Professor Owen endeavors to establish a new genus 

 and species [Plectoteuthis grandis). The genus is based mainly on 

 the fact that there is a marginal crest along each outer angle, and a 

 narrow protective membrane along each side of the sucker-bearing 

 face. These peculiarities are precisely those seen in the ventral arms 

 of Architeuthis, and have already been described by me in former 

 articles, and in this report (see pp. 214, 261, 262), both as found in 

 A.Harueyi and A. ptrinceps. Similar membranes or crests are found 



