OYSTERS, CLAMS, MUSSELS 235 



terrifying appearance has been the basis for many weird sea 

 tales. The argonaut, or paper-nautilus, Argonauta argo, 

 secretes a beautiful thin shell for the protection of the eggs. 

 The cuttlefish, or sepias, and the squids, have in addition 

 to the eight arms of the Octopods, two other long slender 



FIG. no. A squid, Loligo opalcsccns juv. (Reduced.) 



arms, with suckers near the ends only, and so are known as 

 Decapods. The body is longer and better fitted for swimming. 

 Some of the squids attain enormous size, having a body- 

 length of twenty feet and arms thirty to thirty-five feet long. 

 The smaller squids are often very numerous and are commonly 

 used for bait by the fishermen of many regions. The cuttlefish 



