Go to National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
Volume 17, 1884
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Class Cephalopoda.
Family Octopodidæ

Octopus communis, sp. nov.

Body oval, stout, fan-shaped behind, smooth, without fins. Head large, long, rounded. Eyes large, round, prominent. Arms long, tapering, unequal; dorsal pair ⅓ longer than ventral pair. The hectocotylus is shorter and more robust than the other arms, ending abruptly in a long, flattened process with a deep longitudinal groove. Suckers in two rows, not opposite,

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sessile, tenth sucker in row largest, gradually diminishing both ways; those on dorsal arms about ⅓ larger than those on ventral arms. The suckers vary in number from 138 pairs on the longest arms to 110 on the shortest, while the male organ is furnished with only 52 pairs. Colour: Above dark steel grey, blotched irregularly with pale grey, almost black round the eyes. Below pale grey, blotches smaller and less numerous.

Measurements
Feet. Inches.
Length of body and head 1 1
" dorsal sessile arms 3 0
" ventral " 2 0
" hectocotylus 1 6
" other sessile arms 2 9
Circumference of body 1 5
Diameter of eyes 0 0.5
" largest dorsal sucker 0 1.3
" " ventral sucker 0 0.9

Hab. Blind Bay, Nelson.

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