276 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [06] 



found three specimens thrown upon the beach, April 2G and May S, 

 1872. He made descriptions, measurements, and some very valuable 

 drawings of them, while fresh. The specimens had all been more or less 

 mutilated by the ravens before they were discovered. He preserved the 

 pharynx, beak, and odontophore of No. 1, part of the ' bone,' a piece 

 of the caudal fin, and the basal part of one of the ventral arms, with five 

 of the suckers adhering, from one of the other specimens (No. 2), and 

 has generously placed them in my hands for examination, together with 

 his drawings, measurements, and notes. 



The parts remaining of the largest specimen (No. 3) when found had 

 a total length of 427 e,n (14 feet), but the ends of the tentacular arms had 

 been destroyed; length from tail to base of tentacular arms, 559 cm (8 

 feet, G inches); to front edge of mantle, 232.4 cm (7 feet, 7£ inches); width 

 across fins, 107 cm (42 inches) ; diameter of body, 45.7 cm (18 inches) ; slen- 

 der basal portion remaining of tentacular arms, 155 cm (Gl inches) ; their 

 diameter, G.3 cm (2.5 inches); short arms (ends gone), 7G cm to 102 cm (30 

 to 40 inches); length of pen, 22G cm (7 feet, 5 inches). 



According to Mr. Hall's note the color was reddish, in fine red dots 

 on a whitish ground, with a darker stripe on the outer median line of 

 the arms. The eyes were bluish black, furnished with lids, and with a 

 small sinus in front; diameter of the opening, 2.5 cm (1 inch). 



The mandibles retracted into a short, yellow, puckered muzzle, 

 which was included in a longer, plain, proboscis-like tube, extending 

 an inch or two beyond. Siphon, short and thick.* Region of the eye 

 somewhat raised. The nuchal collar is well marked, and slightly above 

 it, on each side, is a raised epidermal ridge, from which three wavy 

 raised crests or frills, attached at their inner edge, pass obliquely back- 

 ward, on each side. No cranial cartilage was observed. Mantle firm 

 and dense. The neck has one median dorsal and two ventral facets, 

 long, oval-shaped, with a median depressed line, but otherwise smooth 

 and white; the dorsal moves on a smooth part of the inside of the man- 

 tle ; the ventrals move on similar raised facets of the mantle beneath. 

 The caudal fin was rather broad, lanceolate or spear-shaped, acute at 

 tip. Gills yellowish olive, with obliquely transverse lamina?. Gizzard 

 yellowish, the muscles laid like a coil of spun-yarn, in layers transverse 

 to one another. 



The pen (Plate XIII, figs. 4, 5) was gone from the first specimen 

 (No. 1) and broken in the others. It was found unattached in the dor- 

 sal cavity. It had a thickened median rib, but becomes very thin at 

 the sides, and is divided by sharp, stiff ribs or folds into three longi- 

 tudinal areas on each side (Plate XIII, fig. G). The posterior end is 

 one-sided, funnel-shaped close to the tip, which is inserted into a long, 

 round, thick, firm, cartilaginous cone, which tapers to a point posteri- 



* No valve is shown in Mr. Call's sketches. 



