A. E. Verrill — The OpisthoteuthidcB. 



75 



the free use of those parts as an umbrella-like swimming disk, 

 as they are supposed to be used in Cirroteuthis, the nearest 

 allied genus. It seems probable, however, that the creature 

 could swim by means of an undulatory motion of the lateral 

 borders of the pedal disk, as is done by certain planarians and 

 by many tectibranch mollusks. The posterior position of the 

 siphon naturally shows that the genital duct and intestine 

 must terminate posteriorly, at its base, for in all other 

 Cephalopoda these organs terminate at the base of the ante- 

 riorly situated siphon, where the outflow of water from the 

 gill-cavity takes place. In the specimens described by me the 

 viscera were too much decayed to be accurately described or 

 figured.* 





Figure I.— Opisihoteuthis Agassizii, dorsal view. One-half natural size. 

 Figure 2. — The same, ventral view. 



This deficiency has been supplied recently by a closely 

 related Japanese species {0. depressa) described by Messrs. 

 I. Ijima and S. Ikeda.f 



This species was taken in 250 fathoms and was examined 

 while quite recent. It adds another to the numerous instances 



* This genus, like many other deep-sea cephalopods, etc., has a very soft gelat- 

 inous consistency and isdiflacult to preserve in alcohol unless the latter is kept 

 ice-cold in an ice chest— a method not used at the time of these captures. 



f Journal College Science, Imp. Univ., Tokio, vol. viii, pt. ii, 1895. 



