Abstract
Abstract Morphological characteristics of two large females of Haliphron atlanticus STEENSTRUP (= Alloposus mollis VERRILL) are described and illustrated. The soft and gelatinous body, the shape of the mantle aperture, the formation of the funnel and adhesive apparatus, and the straplike septa connecting the mantle and funnel and containing the stellate ganglion are characteristic features of the species. One specimen, weighing 41 kg after fixation, was found dead near Bergen (60°14′ N, 5°16′ E) in May 1983. The other, weighing 25 kg after being frozen, was caught alive at 210 m off Vestvagoy in the Lofoten archipelago (68°20′ N. 14°14′ E) in November 1984. It was possibly feeding on the prawn, Pandalus borealis KRoYER. Both specimens had arms partly missing and web torn, but were otherwise well preserved. Previous records of H. atlanticus are confined to tropical and warm-temperate areas. The present findings represent the first records from north of 42° N.
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