56 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



la terminaison des bras est clifFerente, et dont les cirrhes sont beaucoup plus courts, et 

 dont les nageoires sont aussi plus courtes et plus arrondies." 



We have no reliable information as to the habits of the genus, and the Challenger 

 material yielded none even as to its food, for several specimens were in such a frag- 

 mentary condition that no stomach was forthcoming, and in the other cases it was empty, 

 and the intestine contained only a pulpy mass in which no structures could be dis- 

 tinguished. It maybe conjectured that the enormous web serves as a kind of fishing-net, 

 and that the cirri placed between the suckers are tactile in function. It seems also worth 

 while to suggest that possibly the cirri may by their vibration create a current passing 

 down the arms to the mouth, thus procuring a supply of food as is also the case with 

 the Rotifer Stephanoceros. Unfortunately also not one of the specimens of Cirroteuthis 

 collected by the Challenger is in a fit state for dissection, for the soft consistency of 

 the tissues of these animals renders them exceedingly sensitive to reagents, and the 

 amount of material to be dealt with on board the ship was so great that it was im- 

 possible to give to such delicate organisms the care they required. It is interesting to 

 note, however, that no radula could be found, as is also the case in Cirroteuthis miilleri. 



Cirroteuthis magna, Hoyle (PI. XL figs. 3-5 ; PL XII. ; PL XIII. figs. 1-4). 



1876. Cirroteuthis sp., Suhm, Challenger Briefs, vL, Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool., Bd. xxvi. p. Ixxx. 

 1886 ,, magna, Hoyle, Diagnoses I., p. 233. 



1885. „ „ Hoyle, Prelim. Eep. L, p. 109. 



Hahitat. — Station 146, between Prince Edward Island and the Crozets, December 

 29, 1873; lat. 46° 46' S., long. 45° 31' E. ; 1375 fathoms; Globigerina ooze. One 

 specimen. 



Station 298, off Valparaiso, November 17, 1875 ; lat. 34° 7' S., long. 73° 56' W. ; 

 2225 fathoms ; blue mud. One mangled specimen. 



The Body IS, oblong, about twice as long as broad, and rather broader than deep. 

 The mantle-opening is circular, but little larger than the base of the siphon, and its 

 margins are continuous with two ridges on the sides of the latter. The siphon is conical, 

 and slightly swollen at the tip ; it is not connected to the head by ligaments. The fins 

 are obovate in form, about four times as broad as long, and thickened along the posterior 

 margin. The dorsal cartilage (PL XIII. figs. 1, 2) is saddle-shaped, and elongated from 

 side to side, not antero-posteriorly. 



The Head is directly continuous with, and somewhat narrower than the body ; the 

 eyes are spheroidal, the lens spherical, and the palpebral opening circular. 



The Arms are subequal, three and a half to four times as long as the body ; they are 

 slender, and more resemble thickenings of the web than independent arms ; they are 



