316 A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopods. 



inodified in the larger males. Of the inner row, a somewhat smaller 

 number of suckers show distinct alteration, and these are less exten- 

 sively altered ; their pedicels are swollen and their cups reduced, 

 but not to so great an extent, and usually none of the cups are 

 entirely absent. 



In young males, with the mantle about 70™"' to 90™'", (young of the 

 previous yeai-, or perhaps of the first year, when three to five months 

 old,) these modifications of the suckers begin to appear, at first very 

 indistinctly, by a slight enlargement of the bases of the pedicels and 

 a scarcely noticeable decrease in the size of the cups. In specimens 

 with the mantle 100""" to 130""" long (probably young of the previous 

 year, nine months to a year old) the modification of the suckers, 

 though much less marked than in the adults, is sufticiently distinct, 

 the pedicels having become distinctly longer and stouter, while the 

 cups are evidently reduced in size, but none of them are abortive in 

 such specimens. 



Loligo Pealei, var. borealis Verriii. 



Plate XXXVII, figure 2 (pen). Plate XLI, figure 1, (anatomy). 



Since this variety was described I have had opportunities to exam- 

 ine a much larger series of specimens from Cape Ann. These show 

 very plainly that this form passes by intermediate gradations, into 

 the typical form, so that it cannot be considered as anything more 

 than a local or geographical variety. The differences in the propor- 

 tion of the fin to the mantle, noticed in the original specimens, do not 

 hold good, with a larger series. The only varietal character, of much 

 importance, is the relatively smaller suckers, and this is much less 

 marked in most of the later examples than in the former ones, and 

 is a character that varies greatly in the specimens from every locality.* 



In the original specimens the 'pen' (PI. XXXVII, fig. 2) while 

 having the general form of that of L, Pealei^ tapers more gradually 

 anteriorly, and has a narrower, more tapered, sharper and stiffer 

 anterior tip. The variations in proportion are sufticiently indicated 

 by the measurements given in tables A, B and C, in which those 

 specimens designated as 2 G. to 5 G. were measured while fresh. 

 The one marked An. $ is from the lot originally described as variety 

 horecdis, and illustrates the abnormally small size of the suckers. 



* Probably those with abnormally small tentacular suckers are instances in which 

 the arms, the clubs, or the suckers have been lost and afterwards reproduced, as 

 explained below. 



