o/ Edinburgh , Session 1884-85. 
293 
Sepia elliptica, Hoyle. 
Sepia elliptica , Hoyle, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. xvi. p. 
189, 1885. 
The Body is ovoid, broadest one-third from the anterior margin, 
pointed behind. The fins are one-third the width of the body, 
broadest in the middle, extending the whole length of the body, 
and approaching within 2 millim. of each other posteriorly. The 
mantle-margin not very prominent over the head dorsally. The 
mantle-connective is rather short and deep, but otherwise normal. 
The siphon is conical, reaching within 1 millim. of or quite up to 
the space between the ventral arms. 
The Head is very short and broad, the eyes prominent. 
The Arms are subequal, the order of length being 4, 3, 2, 1 ; they 
are nearly half the length of the body, and taper evenly to fine 
points ; there is a distinct but narrow ridge along the fourth and a 
delicate web along each side of the oral aspect of the arms. The 
suckers are in four series throughout, and of moderate size, marked with 
inconstant meridional grooves, and there is a large notch proximally 
and distally in the rim. The horny ring has for the most part no 
distinct teeth, but is marked in the distal half with shallow irregular 
notches, which are occasionally more regular. A papillary area 
surrounds the horny ring. The hectocotylus is developed in about the 
middle third of the left ventral arm; beyond the eighth row of 
suckers the two ventral series are continued of the normal size, but 
the two dorsal are each represented by five minute suckers, gradually 
diminishing to the middle one and then increasing again ; beyond 
this the arm exhibits no peculiarities. The umbrella is widest 
between the two lateral arms, where it extends as far as the sixth 
row of suckers. The buccal membrane bears the usual seven distinct 
points in the male, whilst in the female the ventral pair are lost in the 
thick swollen spermatic cushion ; this is subdivided by four or five 
deep grooves into as many transverse ridges. The outer lip is thin; 
the inner bears about half a dozen rows of distinct hemispheroidal 
papillae. 
The Tentacles are about as long as the mantle ; the stem is indis- 
tinctly three-sided ; the club is long and wide, and bears eight series 
of minute equal suckers ; there is a protective membrane on either 
