No. 6 (1921) COMMON MOLLUSCS OF SOUTH INDIA 203 



Octopus on occasion is able to dart swiftly backv/ards by expelling 

 the water in the gill chamber through a siphon on the under side 

 of the body. The Squids also have this power, but they have so 

 greatly developed their caudal fins that swimming is their ordinary 

 method of locomotion. A shoal of these elegant creatures in flight 

 through the water is an entrancing sight, never to be forgotton. 



Unlike the arms of the Octopus, those of Loligo are short and 

 stumpy with the exception of the extra two -the tentacular arms ; 

 these latter are very long and instead of the suckers being distribut- 

 ed throughout the entire length, they are restricted to a broad 

 pad-like swollen region at the far end. Each of these long arms is 

 rectractile into a pouch on either side of the head ; they are used to 

 seize their prey when at a distance. An internal support, the pen 

 or gladiits, is present in the dorsal region. It is a thin, light, nearly 

 transparent horny structure, with a stiffening rib down the centre 

 on one side. 



Alike with the Octopus and the Cuttlefish, the Squid has an ink 

 sac for defence. In the presence of danger the contents are 

 discharged as an inky cloud ; under cover of this the animal 

 frequently evades its pursuer. It is a favourite morsel with most 

 large fish. 



Squid are very common in Palk Bay where they are known as 

 Kundal kanavai at Rameswaram, and as Eeki kanavai on the western 

 shore of the Bay. The species represented under these vernacular 

 names is the only large Squid found in abundance in Palk Bay. 

 Shoals appear in shallow water off" Rameswaram Island about the 

 month of April and during the height of the S.W. monsoon — June 

 and July^the shoals reach their maximum, and then consist of 

 immense assemblages of individuals sheltering under the lea of the 

 land from the violence of the monsoon, to feed upon the smaller 

 fry that seek similar shelter and to deposit their egg capsules 

 among the weeds common in the places favoured. 



Two methods of fishing are employed, the one a wholesale net- 

 ting in which thousands are caught at a haul ; the other where the 

 skill of the fishermen is exercised in catching the Squid singly by 

 means of a jigger. 



The first method is largely practised in Rameswaram Bay 

 during the south-west monsoon ; a seine is used having a large 

 close-meshed bag in the centre, with long wing-ropes closely set 

 with strips of palm leaf (o/cn) to serve as scare-lines, and so to herd 



