LOLIGO. 513 



Loligo punctata. 



LoUgo punctata, De Kay, N. Y. Moll. 3, pi. 1, %. 1 (1843). — Stisipson, Check Lists, 

 6 (1860). 



De Kay's description here follows : — 



Body cylindrical, tapering, about three inches in length, and with 

 a slight ridge along the back, caused by the internal cartilaginous 

 support. Body ends above in an acute point. The caudal appen- 

 dage or fleshy fins terminal, broadly rhomboidal, and ending in an 

 obtuse angle, nearly half the length of the body ; lateral edges 

 rounded, perfectly smooth on both sides, attenuated at the margins. 

 Head moderately large, depressed ; neck narrowed. Eyes large 

 and prominent. Beneath the throat a prominent elongated muscu- 

 lar sac, opening externally by an irregular rounded orifice or vent. 



Arms ten, of which the two superior are shortest and smallest, 

 and furnished with rounded cup-like suckers attached to the arms 

 by a central ligament. These suckers extend to the tips, but be- 

 come gradually smaller until they are scarcely visible unless aided 

 by the lens. The same remark applies to the other arms, and it 

 may be observed that the suckers are placed in no regular order. 

 The second pair similar in shape, but more robust, and equal in 

 length to the fifth or inferior pair. The third pair remarkably ro- 

 bust, and exceeding in length the preceding. Fourth pair longest 

 of all, and equalling the length of the head and body ; cylindrical, 

 dilated towards the extremity, and ending in an acute tip ; the 

 suckers are arranged irregularly over the dilated part. 



Mouth central, sphincter-form, partly covered by an angular mem- 

 brane with six short processes resembling the arms in miniature, 

 and, like them, furnished with minute suckers. The internal car- 

 tilaginous support smooth, thin, and translucent, resembling an 

 ordinary quill, its superior portion Ijeing comparable to the barrel, 

 and its broad dilated extremity to the web. The upper portion tri- 

 quetrous, hollowed out beneath, carinate above, and producing a 

 corresponding elevation externally along the back; it ends in an 

 acute tip above. This ridge along the back becomes gradually 

 effaced towards the lower extremity. 



Color. The whole body, back of the head, fins and external parts 



of the arms covered with reddish rounded spots of various sizes ; 



they are rather more sparse on the inferior surface of the sac. A 



row of these spots around the orbits, and behind the eyes they are 



33 



