i;n\ \TI S. oXYi lloTKI TIM*. 



Kamily IX. ONYCIIO'I K TTI I I I > .iv 



4 principal charader of 1 his family is the developmenl of 

 hooks upon the jmns. MS a means of prehension ; they replace 

 the sucking disks to :t greater or less extent, according- to the 

 several genera. A few fossil forms occur. 



Genus GONATUS, dray. 



<J. \\KKNA. Moller. IM. 7:1. fig. :><.><>. 



IJody cylindrical. taperhm'. acute l>ehind ; fins rhombic. not 



one-third the length of the back. 



Norway; Greenland. 



Gtauu ONYCHOTEUTHIS, 



These animals are solitary in habit, frequent ing the open sea. 

 and es|eeially banks of ^nlf-weeil. Some of t he species have an 

 immense in-oo-raphical dist rilmtion ; as 0. Banksii, from the 

 Arctic Ocean to the Cape of (Jood Hope and Indian Ocean. 

 The peculiar arrangement of suckers, forming a circle at the 

 base of each tentacular club, enabling the animal to use the two 

 clubs in conjunction, when necessary, give an immense inciva-e 

 of power. They -iiiiuc-;ed the obstetric forceps of Profcs-nr 

 Simpson. 



O. UANKSII. Leach. IM. 7:5. lij.^. -'M ^f. 



l>nly very elongate, cylindrical, acuminate In-hind ; head with 

 postero-dorsal, lonu'itudinal. small, prominent ridges; fins rhoni- 

 loidal ; <c--ile ai'ins conic-subulate, winged on the back, unequal. 



in length -. :;. i. 1 : cups with a Hcshy excrescence, compressed, 



px-ar-shaped ; tentacles very extensile, the clubs armed with a 

 double series of hooks, of which the outer row is much the 

 largest, with a basal and sometimes an apical group of cups. 

 Shell dark brown, lanceolate, peiinaie. with a short central keel. 

 thin. Ordinary length of body. (> inches. 



I unite a large number of nominal species under this name. 

 the examination of numerous specimens and of the various 



figures having convinced me thai their characters are illusory. 



Distribution nearly universal; collected in all the oceam at 



numerous localities, equally in arctic and tropical waters, 



