BULLETIIV 



OP 



THE CHARLESTON MUSEUM 



Vol. 10 CHARLESTON, S. C, NOVEMBER, 1914 No. 7 



OCTOPUS AND ITS RELATIVES 



An interesting Octopus referred by Mr. William G. Mazyck to 

 Polypus granulatus was presented to the Museum by Mr. Ashley 

 Halsey on October 14. It was taken in a locality known as 

 Barshell near the Whistling Buoy south of the Jetties, in about 

 30 feet of water. This specimen came to the Museum alive 

 and after being kept under observation for a time was preserved 

 in the permanent collection. 



The Octopus is a rare form in the vicinity of Charleston, only 

 one species being recorded in Mazyck 's Catalog of the MoUusca 

 of South Carolina. It belongs to the group of cephalopod mol- 

 luscs more commonly represented in these waters by the common 

 squid, which differs from the Octopus in having ten arms instead 

 of eight. Readers of the Bulletin may remember that in 1911 

 the Museum obtained from the Isle of Palms an unusually large 

 squid, measuring eighteen inches over the body and four feet 

 over the tentacles, which was tentatively referred to Loligo gahi- 

 Neither of these specimens is suited for exhibition purposes, but 

 the group to which they belong is of such interest that some further 

 account may not be amiss. 



The class cephalopoda is not only the highest among the mol- 

 lusca but in many respects among all the invertebrate animals. 



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