A. E. Yerrill — North American Cephalopods. 
301 
subequal, with a basal web and lateral membranes; suckers smallest 
on the ventral arms, and urceolate ; largest and ilatish on the mid- 
dle of the lateral and dorsal arms; feebly toothed. Pen extending 
the whole length of the body, very slender and of uniform width for 
more than half the length, then becoming broad-lanceolate, the term- 
inal portion having the edges involute, forming a long slender cone, 
into which the ovary extends. Nidamental glands large, symmetri- 
cally developed on the two sides. Gills small, situated in front of 
the middle of the body. 
The genus Taonius was proposed by Steeustrup to include this and 
T. p>avo (Les. sp.), but he has never, to my knowledge, definitely de- 
fined the genus. As T. pavo appears to be generically distinct from 
the present genus, 1 propose to retain Taonius, with T. pavo for its 
type. By many writers T. pavo has been placed in Loligopsis, or 
Leachia. Steenstrup himself, formerly referred I). liyperborea to 
Leachia. By Tryon, both have been referred back to Loligopsis. 
Loligopsis , as defined by D’Orbigny, in 1839, included T. pavo , as 
well as the type of Leachia, but he referred Lamarck’s origiual type 
of L,oligopsis to the genus, as emended by him, only with doubt. 
It seems desirable, therefore, to explain this confusion, so far as 
possible. 
Loligopsis Lamarck,* 1812 and 1822, was based only on an im- 
perfect figure, made by Peron, of a small oceanic squid, which had 
lost its tentacular arms. The supposed character of having eight 
arms was, for him, the only basis for the genus, no others being men- 
tioned. The species (Z. Peronii) was, however, described very 
briefly as a small squid with eight equal arms and two posterior, dis- 
tinct caudal fins, and it was compared to Sepiola. It has apparently 
not been rediscovered by later writers, unless L. chrysophthalma 
D’Orb., be the same species, which is quite possible. The latter, as 
figured, is a small, short-bodied species, with distinct , separate, small , 
caudal fins, which are free from the end of the body / its mantle- 
edge is also represented as free, dorsally. This evidently is a generic 
type distinct from Taonius and Desmoteuthis. Indeed, it probably 
will be found not to belong to the same family, when actually 
studied. Therefore it seems necessary to allow the name Loligopsis 
to remain connected with such small, short-bodied species, for which, 
alone, it was originally used. The genus, in its original sense, cannot 
yet be regarded as fully established. 
* Extr. (le Cours de ZooJ., p. 123, 1 K 1 2 (t. D’Orb.); Animaux sans vert., vii, p. G59, 
1822. 
