206 A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalojwds. 



The odontophore is about 64"^"' in total length, Avith the dentigevons 

 portion, where widest, abont il""" in wndth. The teeth are in seven 

 rows, with an exterior row of small, unarmed, thin, rhomboidal plates 

 on each side, thus conforming to the arrangement in the other 

 ten-armed eephalopods. The teeth are deep amber-color to dark 

 brown, and not unlike those of Loligo and Ontrnasirephes in form. 

 Those of the median row have three fangs, the central one longest ; 

 those on the next row% on either side, have two fangs ; while those of 

 the two outer lateral rows, on each side, are acute and strongly- 

 curved ; the outermost longest and simple, the next to the outer 

 often having a small denticle on the outer side, near the base. (See 

 Plate XVI«, figs. 1, 2, 3.) 



The membrane of the odontophore is broad, firm and thick; the 

 dentigei'ous portion occupies only about a third of its width, in the 

 middle or broader portion, wdiere it is bent abruptly back u])on itself. 

 The lower or ventral portion measures, from the anterior bend to the 

 end, 20""" ; it narrows gradually to the broad obtuse end, the width of 

 the dentigerous portion deci'easing from 9 to 5""", the naked lateral 

 membrane decreasing from 8""" to a very narrow^ bordei*. The 

 upper portion, from the bend to the end, measures 42'""' in length 

 (in a straight line). The upper surface is deeply concave and infolded, 

 at first, with the lateral membrane broad and recurved ; fiirther back 

 it becomes more flattened, with the dentigerous port ion broader (11"""), 

 while the lateral membrane is abruptly narrowed and then extends 

 to tlie end as a very narrow^ border. Toward the end the rows of 

 teeth become more separated and tlie teeth smaller and paler, while 

 the membrane becomes thinner and narrower. 



The internal shell, or ' pen,' w^as represented by numerous detached 

 pieces, which, after much trouble, I succeeded in locating and match- 

 ing, so as to restore both the anterior and posterior ends, and thus to 

 gain a fair idea as to what its original structure must have been. 

 The texture, form and structure of the pen was somewhat like that of 

 Loligo, but it was thinner, and had less definite outlines, and less of 

 the peculiar quill-shape seen in the latter. The posterior end, instead 

 of being pointed and regular in outline, appears to have been broadly 

 rounded, or somewhat truncated, with an indefinite outline, thinning 

 out gradually on all sides into a soft fibrous membrane, while the 

 shaft, or quill-portion, was not so distinctly differentiated from the 

 broader central portion, but increased in width quite regularly, from 

 near the anterior end. The fragments in my possession belong to 

 four more or less separated sections. The first section includes eleven 



