256
MALCOLM R. CLARKE
upon the surface of the water ”. From a small boat it could scarcely be
seen and broke in two when collected. The mass consisted of semisolid, perfectly transparent, jelly containing rows or clusters of round
black spots, each the size of a pin’s head, arranged in single rows
along the outer part of the cylindrical mass. Each black spot proved
to be an active little squid which “ leaped about in their narrow
chambers ”. “ Each egg-sac was perfectly spherical and transparent.”
After two or three hours, all the embryos had hatched out and had
left the egg mass. This description could also apply to the other
records of a gelatinous floating egg mass. Grenacher (1874) published
the description of another similar egg mass collected in the North
Atlantic. It had a length of about 76 cm and Grenacher was able to
describe, in detail, the embryological changes taking place after
capture. Hedrich described a gelatinous egg mass which was stranded
and was later considered to belong to some species of Ommastrephes
(Schafer, 1956). Akimushkin (1963) described egg masses seen near
the Kuril Islands which he attributed to Todarodes paci$cus and other
pelagic egg masses seen floating near the surface at a station south of
Japan. The latter were ribbon-like and measured 70 x 30 x 5 cm; each
egg capsule was almost spherical, 0-2 cm in diameter and contained an
embryo having a free mantle border; this shows they were neither
octopuses nor members of the Cranchiidae.
The author knows of only three other examples of the observation
of an oegopsid egg mass. I n late 1960 Dr. Hans Hass showed a film
on B.B.C. television of an egg mass seen within the Addu Atoll of the
Maldive Islands. Dr. Hass subsequently sent the author prints and
very kindly arranged for him to see the film. The egg mass which was
filmed was one of several seen; it measured 6 or 6 f t in length and
about 1 ft across, was transparent, rather solid and contained a large
number of eggs in spiral lines. The embryos within the eggs were
oegopsid but further identification was not possible. A rough estimate
from Dr. Hass’s photographs indicates that the mass possibly contained
about 20 000 eggs. Dr. Hass had only seen such masses on one other
occasion, in the Piscadera Bay at Curaqao, West Indies. In both
places where they were observed the bottom drops very steeply to
great depths. In March 1964 another squid egg mass measuring about
6 f t long by 1 ft across was collected by R.R.S. Discovery in the
Indian Ocean at O”58’S 67”59’E. It closely resembled a large Pyroso11u;c
but there were fewer dots per unit volume. It was coloured a dusky
red by the small squid embryos which were scattered in the jelly.
The jelly was very heavy and broke the handle of the handnet during
collection; it was rather more sloppy than Pyrosoma and much of it
MALCOLM R. CLARKE
upon the surface of the water ”. From a small boat it could scarcely be
seen and broke in two when collected. The mass consisted of semisolid, perfectly transparent, jelly containing rows or clusters of round
black spots, each the size of a pin’s head, arranged in single rows
along the outer part of the cylindrical mass. Each black spot proved
to be an active little squid which “ leaped about in their narrow
chambers ”. “ Each egg-sac was perfectly spherical and transparent.”
After two or three hours, all the embryos had hatched out and had
left the egg mass. This description could also apply to the other
records of a gelatinous floating egg mass. Grenacher (1874) published
the description of another similar egg mass collected in the North
Atlantic. It had a length of about 76 cm and Grenacher was able to
describe, in detail, the embryological changes taking place after
capture. Hedrich described a gelatinous egg mass which was stranded
and was later considered to belong to some species of Ommastrephes
(Schafer, 1956). Akimushkin (1963) described egg masses seen near
the Kuril Islands which he attributed to Todarodes paci$cus and other
pelagic egg masses seen floating near the surface at a station south of
Japan. The latter were ribbon-like and measured 70 x 30 x 5 cm; each
egg capsule was almost spherical, 0-2 cm in diameter and contained an
embryo having a free mantle border; this shows they were neither
octopuses nor members of the Cranchiidae.
The author knows of only three other examples of the observation
of an oegopsid egg mass. I n late 1960 Dr. Hans Hass showed a film
on B.B.C. television of an egg mass seen within the Addu Atoll of the
Maldive Islands. Dr. Hass subsequently sent the author prints and
very kindly arranged for him to see the film. The egg mass which was
filmed was one of several seen; it measured 6 or 6 f t in length and
about 1 ft across, was transparent, rather solid and contained a large
number of eggs in spiral lines. The embryos within the eggs were
oegopsid but further identification was not possible. A rough estimate
from Dr. Hass’s photographs indicates that the mass possibly contained
about 20 000 eggs. Dr. Hass had only seen such masses on one other
occasion, in the Piscadera Bay at Curaqao, West Indies. In both
places where they were observed the bottom drops very steeply to
great depths. In March 1964 another squid egg mass measuring about
6 f t long by 1 ft across was collected by R.R.S. Discovery in the
Indian Ocean at O”58’S 67”59’E. It closely resembled a large Pyroso11u;c
but there were fewer dots per unit volume. It was coloured a dusky
red by the small squid embryos which were scattered in the jelly.
The jelly was very heavy and broke the handle of the handnet during
collection; it was rather more sloppy than Pyrosoma and much of it