The Cephalopoda Collected by the Canadian Arctic 

 Expedition, 1913-18 



By S. Stillman Berey, 



Redlands, California. 



The cephalopods collected by the Canadian Arctic Expedition during the 

 years 1913 to 1916 comprise only a few fragments, principally mandibles, 

 taken from the stomachs of two species of seals, the Bearded Seal, Erignathus 

 barbatus (Erxleben), and the Common Rough Seal, Phoca hispida Schreber. 

 In the light of present knowledge alone, proper identification of such material 

 at the very least account is hazardous. But from the notes, and more especially 

 from the figures given, it is just possible that a way will be left open for throwing 

 a more illuminating light upon the material at some time in the future. 



It is hoped that the bibliographical portion of the present paper may prove 

 of more immediate utility. It is unfortunate that knowledge of the cephalopods 

 of the American Arctic is so incomplete, scattering, and fragmentary, as the 

 study of this list shows. 



Material Collected 



For convenience in reference, the material collected is listed in order accord- 

 ing to the numbers under which it is entered in the author's card register. 



[726] 



Numerous fragments taken from stomach of Phoca hispida Schreber, 

 station 29/, ca. 30 fathoms, lat. 70° 13' N., long. 140° 50' W., a little east of 

 Alaska- Yukon boundary, April 4, 1914. 



The material here entered consists of 3 fragmentary and semi-digested 

 buccal masses of cephalopods, together with a few odd shreds of tissue and 

 some 58 fragments of beaks, the latter consisting of half mandibles only. Not 

 even those persisting in the buccal tissues are entire. Each is split mesially. 

 Evidently the median region of the mandibles is not only narrow in this species, 

 but more than ordinarily weak. In fact, one is reminded very much of the 

 appearance of the valves of the chiton Schizoplax after the dissolution of the 

 median uncalcified wedge. There are other peculiarities of shape and pro- 

 portion (Fig. 1). On the whole the mandibles are fairly uniform in size. None 



Fig. l.^The four mandibular fragments from the buccal mass of a cephalopod taken at Station 29/ [726]; camera 

 outline; the two outermost figures are internal views. 

 2411—2 



