HOYLE : RRiriSH CErilAlAirOJ lA. 199 



species first mentioned — the only one of which he gives any descrip- 

 tive notice— as typical. 



Steenstrup ['8o, p. 75] maintained that O. bartraiiiii and the allied 

 pelagic forms of the high seas were those upon which the genus was 

 founded ; this seems to me, however, to be an inference based upon 

 the fact that the creation of this genus was the result of his studies 

 of pelagic life during the voyage to and from South America, 

 rather than upon any documentary evidence. The only evidence 

 of this latter kind adduced by Steenstrup ['81, p. 4, footnote] is the 

 fact that Herrmannsen ['47, p. 145] mentions C. /-'crrM^w// as the type 

 of the genus Onunastrephes. I greatly regret that 1 did not question 

 Prof. Steenstrup on the matter when I had the pleasure and profit of 

 working with him, but I did not at that time realise its importance. 

 AVe may, I think, conclude that on this ground alone there is a pre- 

 sumption in favour of Onunastrephes sagiUafus (Lamarck) {^O. todarus 

 d'Orb.) being the typical species of Ommastrephes. 



Leaving this as an open question, however, we may enquire who first 

 dismembered the genus and what view did he adopt? Verrill and 

 Steenstrup both published their views in the year 1880. Steenstrup's 

 paper was read before the Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 

 on April 2nd and published on July loth ; Prof. Verrill's definition 

 appears to have been printed in the Transactions of the Connecticut 

 Academy in February, 1880, published in March, and at all events 

 appeared in the American Journal of Arts and Science in April, 1880, 

 so that unquestionably his procedure takes precedence of that of Steen- 

 strup. We see then that whether we consider tlie type of d'Orbigny's 

 genus (so far as it can be ascertained) or the rights of priority we are 

 led to the same conclusion — that the genus Onunastrephes, whatever 

 else it may or may not include, must contain the Loligo sagittata of 

 Lamarck {^O. todarus of d'Orbigny and of Jeffreys). This view has 

 already been advocated by Girard ['90, p. 36] and Pfeffer [:00, p. 379]. 



The generic name Onunastrephes was altered by Loven ['46] and 

 Agassiz ['48, p. 475] to Onunatostrephes, and this spelling has been 

 adopted by some subsequent writers besides Jeffreys. The rule of 

 the International Zoological Congress provides that "the original ortho- 

 graphy of a name is to be preserved unless an error of transcription, a 

 lapsus calami, or a typographical error is evident," hence it is, I think, 

 necessary to adhere to the original form. 



Sthenoteuthis pteropus. — The occurrence of this large squid in 

 British waters is recorded by Goodrich ['92], who also gives figures of 

 a good many structural details. 



Illex coindeti. — This species is the one for which d'Orbigny 

 [For. & d'Orb., '35, p. 345] adopted the name sagittata. Why he did 

 so is not clear, for according to his own showing the "van A." of 



