2 . . tc JAPANESE MOLLUSKS, CEPHALOPODA. 



Iniotbuthlt japoricTa.F^r; #rW Man. Conch., I, p. 157. 



Promaohoteuthis megaptera Hoyle. Chall. Rep., Vol. 16, p. 120, pi. 14, figs. 10- 

 14. Wood cut 3. 



S. Enoshiraa, 1875 fath.,blue mud (Challenger). 



SEPIIDJE. 

 Sepia hercules Pilsbry. PI. 1. figs. 1, 2. The Nautilus, VII, p. 144, April 2, 1894. 



Shell having the general form of that of S. esculenta Hoyle but 

 more convex ventrally ; chitinous margin narrow ; dorsal surface 

 tuberculate-rugose as in esculenta, but more coarsely so, the posterior 

 part having the tubercles very deeply separated, flat-topped, and 

 leaning backward ; dorsal surface evenly rounded, with no trace of 

 a median longitudinal rib. Ventral surface as in esculenta, but the 

 striation is much closer although the shell is triple the size. Last loc- 

 ulus has an index of 22. Inner cone well developed, its limbs aris- 

 ing about one-third the length of the shell from the posterior end, 

 gradually rising along the sides, posteriorly reflexed and appressed 

 on the outer cone, leaving below a narrow small cavity. The ante- 

 rior edge of the inner cone does not form a shelf across the posterior 

 end of the outer cone as is the case in esculenta, and the cavity is 

 much smaller, shallower and narrower than in a specimen of esculenta 

 155 mill, in length. Spine very stout, conical, its root excavated 

 ventrally. Color, white in the middle, faint pink at the sides ; whit- 

 ish beneath. 



Length 425 mill.; greatest breadth 160 mill.; length of spine 19 

 mill. 



This species is the giant of the genus.the shell being about 1 6 1 inches 

 long. It is allied to S. esculenta Hoyle, but differs as above indicated. 

 The dorsal slope does not descend abruptly to the spine as in that 

 species. Of S. esculenta a good many specimens are before me col- 

 lected by Mr. Stearns. They agree well with the " Challenger " 

 specimens. The size of esculenta is moderately constant, shells seen 

 by Hoyle, Appelloff and myself being from 155 to 163 mill, long 

 (about 6J inches). 



A second specimen from the Luchu Is. exhibits the same char- 

 acters throughout. 



Sepia esculenta Hoyle. Hoyle, Challenger Rep., xvi, p. 129, pi. 17, f. 1-5 : pi. 18, 

 f. 1-61. 



Yokohama (Challenger ; Stearns). 



The specimens of the shell agree well with Hoyle's figures. 



