370 
A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopoda. 
One of the largest females (Station 895,) in breeding season and 
filled with eggs, measures, from tip of dorsal arms to end of body, 
I70 mm ; edge of dorsal web to end of body, 90; mantle, beneath, 
40 ; breadth of body, 55 ; of head, 41 ; length of dorsal arms from 
beak, 125; of second pair, 120; of third pair, 115; of fourth pair, 
■j j KmiD 
When living, the ground-color was usually pale, translucent, blu- 
ish white, above thickly specked with light orange-brown and dark 
purplish brown. Its colors were changeable, but apparently less 
actively so than in the squids. 
The spermatophores (PI. XXVI, fig. 10, a, b) are remarkably 
large in proportion to the size of the animal, being from 50 to 75 mm in 
length and 4 to 5"‘ m in diameter. The form is club-shaped, with the 
narrow portion little longer than the thickened part. They are almost 
perfectly transparent, and the milk-white, coiled string of sperma- 
tozoa can be plainly seen in the interior. There is a slender, thread- 
like filament at each end, that of the small end much the longest. 
When they begin to discharge their contents (as in fig. 10, a), the 
form changes rapidly. In several instances I have observed these 
spermatophores escaping from the siphon of recently captured speci- 
mens, taken at various dates, from July 23 to Sept. 21, at stations 
138, 161, 163, 223, etc. 
This species was first discovered by the writer, while dredging in 
1872, on the U. S. steamer “Mosswood,” in the Bay of Fundy, off 
Eastport, Me., in 75 to 80 fathoms. Although so recently discovered, 
it proves to have a very extensive range, both geographically and in 
depth. It is one of the most common and characteristic inhabitants 
of the bottom, in 100 to 500 fathoms, along our entire coast, from 
South Carolina to Newfoundland. It was taken in the trawl, by the 
U. S. Fish Commission, in 1872, 1873, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879, and 
1880, in depths ranging from 50 to 500 fathoms, at numerous locali- 
ties, from oft' Halifax, X. S., and in the Bay of Fundy, to the region 90 
to 100 miles south of Newport, R. I., where it is common and of large 
size. It was obtained by Mr. A. Agassiz, on the “ Blake,” in 1880, at 
various stations, from X. lat. 41° 34' 30", to 32° 43' 25", in 178 to 
524 fathoms. 
In Xovember, 1880, it was taken by Lieut. Z. L. Tanner, on the 
“ Fish Hawk,” off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, in 157 to 300 
fathoms. 
The Gloucester fishermen have brought in several specimens from 
the banks oft' Xova Scotia and Newfoundland. 
