REPORT ON THE CEPHALOPODA. 



133 





Right. 



Left. 



Length of first arni,i .... 



25 mm. 



25 mm 



Length of second arm, .... 



27 „ 



27 „ 



Length of third arm, .... 



26 „ 



26 „ 



Length of fourth arm, . ... 



27 „ 



30 „ 



Length of tentacle, .... 





72 „ 



Length of tentacular club. 





12 „ 



The shell of this species resembles that of Se^na brevimana, Steenstrup, but it is 

 not so hollow, and has a series of two or three radial ridges on the middle of the inferior 

 surface of the inner cone (fig. 24), while in the latter species the inner cone has a 

 thickened margin not seen in these specimens. It also resembles that of Sepia aculeata, 

 but the inner cone is very much less pronounced, and as regards the animal itself, the 

 tentacular club is much shorter and there are no suckers on the buccal membrane. 



In general form the shell bears some likeness to Sejiia rostrata, but the inner cone 

 is much less developed and the spine very much smaller, while the horny ring of the 

 suckers is not " tres petit " nor has it " bords lisses " as stated by d'Orbigny, though 

 here his description does not agree with his figure.^ 



The specimens from Station 190 diifer a little from those from Station 188 in that 

 the horny rings of the suckers of the sessile arms are more decidedly toothed, but both, 

 forms agree so closely in other characters, that I have not thought it necessary to 

 separate them formally. This fact is an instance of an observation that has frequently 

 been made in regard to other classes of animals, namely, that in those regions where a 

 genus is particularly abundant and rich in species, it presents also the largest number 

 of varieties, whence the species show a greater tendency to run into each other and 

 become more diificult to define. There seems abundant reason to believe, as will be 

 shown in the section of this Eeport treating of Distribution, that the Indian Archipelago 

 and neighbouring seas are the localities richest in species of Sepia. 



Sepia cultrata, Steenstrup MS. (PL XX.). 



Sepia cultrata, Stp., MS. in Mus. Havn. 

 1885. „ „ Hoyle, Diagnoses IL, p. 198. 



1885. „ „ Hoyle, Prelim. Rep. IL, p. 303. 



var. = ,, capensis, Gray, B. M. C, p. 110 (excl. syn.). 



Habitat. — Station 163a, off Twofold Bay, Australia, April 4, 1874; lat. 36' 59' S., 

 long. 150° 20' E; 150 fathoms; green mud. One specimen, $. 



The Body is elongated, broadest about the middle of its length. The fins are 

 rather narrow, about one-fourth the breadth of the body, commencing 2 mm. from the 

 anterior edge of the body and approaching within 5 mm. of each other posteriorly ; the 



1 Measured from the oral margin. ^ Gompare. C^ph. acet., pi. xxvi. figs. 7, 8. 



