280 



A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopods. 



Coast of Rhode Island (Verrill) to Cumberland Gulf (Kumlein). 

 Abundant from Cape Cod to Newfoundland. Newport, R. I. (U. 

 S. Fish Com.) Vineyard Sd., Mass., rare, large in winter, small 

 in May (V. N. Edwards). 



Ommastreph.es illecehrosa. — Specimens examined. 



Several of the smaller specimens, included in this list, are so young 

 that it is impossible to determine their sex with certainty, without 

 dissection. The hectocotylization of the ventral arm in the male is 

 scarcely recognizable in those with the mantle less than 4 inches long. 



The Mediterranean form, usually identified with the var. b, of JLoli- 

 go sagittata Lamarck, 1799,* is closely related to our species, but if 

 the published figures and descriptions can be relied upon, it can 

 hardly be identical, as D'Orbigny and other writers have considered 

 it. The American form has a more elongated body, with a differently 

 shaped caudal fin, which is relatively shorter than the best authors 

 attribute to O. sagittatus. The figure given by Verany is, however, an 

 exception in this respect, for in it the body is represented about as 



*Tt seems more probable, however, that Lamarck's description applied rather to 0. 

 Bartramii (Les. sp.) of tlie Gulf Stream region. Blainville and others have thus ap- 

 plied it, correctly, as I beheve. 



