164 SEA-SHORE LIFE 
are no fins, and no trace of a shell in the adult. When full grown 
the arms are each about two feet long. In the male the third arm 
on the right hand side is curiously modified for sexual purposes, 
and is cast off and adheres to the female during the breeding 
season. 
Another species of Octopus, (0. bairdii) is found in deep water 
off the New England coast, but it is not often met with. A good 
figure of it taken from Verill is given in the “ Riverside Natural 
History, Vol. Lp.37i: 
The Paper Nautilus, (/Argonauta, Fig. 117). Several closely 
related species of Argonauta are found in the tropical parts of the 
Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. Occasionally 
the creature is drifted 
northward upon the 
Gulf Stream, and may 
be cast up upon the 
southern Long Island 
coast. The female has 
eight sucker-bearing 
arms, which resemble 
those of the Octopus, 
excepting that the front 

pair of arms end each 
in a large, flat expan- 
sion. ‘These expanded 
Fig. 117; PAPER NAUTILUS. From the Tropical Pacific. 
parts secrete a delicate capsule which bears an accidental resem- 
blance to a beautifully-sculptured shell, although it is not compar- 
able with the shell of other mollusks. It is not attached to the body, 
and may be even cast off, and serves merely to contain the eggs dur- 
ing the breeding season. ‘These eggs are laid in grape-like clusters 
enclosed in delicate capsules. The six tapering arms may also be 
thrust within the cavity of the capsule while the Argonaut swims 
backward, being propelled by jets of water from the siphon. 
During the breeding season the females are found swimming 
at the surface, but at other times they appear to live in the depths. 
Beautiful colors play over the creature as it swims about, and the 
shell, while in the water, is very soft and flexible. 
