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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIX, October 1963 
328), or is a creeping or clinging form as Ver- 
rill (1896:74) thought. 
The highly specialized dorsal arm-pair of the 
males, regarded as the hectocotylized or nuptial 
arms, with their 6-7 greatly enlarged globular 
suckers distally, is characteristic of this species 
(Berry, 1955:221-222). This condition, of 
course, reaches its highest degree of develop- 
ment in the mature males; but even with the 
smaller immature males, three of which are 
present in this series, the distal suckers of the 
dorsal arm-pair are slightly enlarged. The sexes 
are, therefore, always distinguishable by this 
male nuptial arm character. 
The internal structuring of this group is more 
striking than the external. Many organs are 
completely lost with no new structures replac- 
ing them. There are no salivary glands, no ink 
sac, no well defined crop, no radula, and no 
right oviduct (Berry, 1952:185). The stomach 
is quite small, and is divided into two parts; 
the liver is bilobed. The reproductive apparatus 
of both sexes is massive, and in mature indi- 
viduals it constitutes a considerable portion of 
the visceral mass (Figs. 4 and 5). 
Color 
In life the coloration differed slightly from 
that reported by Berry (1949:24 and 1952: 
186) for preserved material (". . . light dull 
drab, very heavily concentrically streaked with 
dull dark reddish brown . . .”), being a more 
evenly distributed dark reddish brown with 
breaks of light blue in the background colora- 
Fig. 4. Reprod 'ctive organs of a mature female 
Opisthoteuthis calif orniana, X .45. 
tion. There was no concentric streaking as Berry 
observed for preserved material, and no aboral 
spotting as is reported for several congeners 
(Berry, 1918:286, 291; Sasaki, 1929:11; and 
Verrill, 1883:114). The oral surface was like- 
wise dark reddish brown but without the breaks 
in the background coloration. This dark reddish 
brown coloration diffuses to a pale reddish tan 
color in the region of the cirri, suckers, and 
the central portion of the arms. After preserva- 
tion the coloration was similar to that reported 
by Berry (1952:186). 
The light blue breaks in the reddish brown 
coloration were due to splitting of the delicate 
outer skin of the aboral surface by trawl abra- 
sion and from the spines of fish in the catch. 
This point was verified by purposely splitting 
the outer skin of freshly caught specimens. The 
light blue coloration became evident immedi- 
ately. The degree of skin splitting varied with 
the individual, some being so badly abraded 
that the brown coloration was almost com- 
pletely wanting. 
Fecundity 
Egg counts and measurements were made 
on three mature females captured at different 
times of the year. These data are presented in 
Table 3. 
The total egg count varied from 225 to 475 
eggs. In none of the individuals examined was 
the egg size uniform; it varied from less than 
one mm to 11 mm in greatest diameter (length). 
The largest egg examined measured 11 by 6 
mm, which is slightly larger than the largest 
Fig. 5. Reproductive organs of a mature male Opis- 
thoteuthis calif orniana, X .65. 
