394 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



in a less degree, the shape of the funnel-organ components and head, form a highly 

 peculiar and characteristic assemblage. 



Upon examination of other species of Eledone from adjacent seas I find that E. brevis, 

 Hoyle (1886), has a degenerate radula of the same type as gunteri. It is also devoid of an 

 ink sac. Though quite distinct specifically, I consider that these two interesting forms 

 are congeneric. 



Sub-family BATHYPOLYPODINAE 



Benthoctopus sp. (? januarii var.). (PI. IV, fig. 2.) 



St. WS 86. 3. iv. 27. 53° 53' 30" S, 60° 34' 30" W. 151-147 m., sand, shells and stones. Com- 

 mercial otter trawl: five specimens (3 (SS, 2 ??). 



Dimensions (in mm). 



It will be seen from these figures that the five specimens are by no means alike. 

 I think, however, that the differences between the two larger and the two smaller are 

 mainly referable to age. All five specimens have unmistakably the same general facies, 

 though the smaller are admittedly squatter and broader headed . In addition to the features 

 indicated above the following points must be noted. The skin is entirely smooth, and 

 there are no cirrhi of any sort. The funnel-organ is W-shaped. It is better preserved in 

 the younger specimens, and in them it is rather widely spread and thin limbed. In the 

 older specimens it seems thicker and narrower, though of this I am not quite certain, as 

 the organ is not well preserved in them. The gill is remarkably deep, the longest filament 

 measuring 18 mm. in the largest specimen. The inner demibranch is little reduced. 

 There is no ink sac in any of the specimens. The radula is not imlike that of B. januarii, 

 at least in so far as its admedian and first lateral teeth are concerned. The rhachidian 

 has the same general type of seriation in both species, but differs in sundry details. The 

 third laterals are more slender in the Burdwood Bank forms. 



The hectocotylised arm is 56-69 per cent of the longest arm. The ligula is short and 

 pointed, and in no. 2 (the best developed) the copulatory groove is deep and narrow, 

 the sides thick and traversed by transverse grooves. The calamus is well developed and 

 reaches about a third of the way along the organ. 



The internal male organs. Needham's organ has a moderate head and slender ex- 

 tremity. There is but a feebly indicated appendix. The penis has a moderate diverticle. 

 There are numerous thread-like spermatophores, about 45-47 nim. long, with very 



