304 I N A G U A 



Some of the cephalopods show an amazing amount of mother- 

 love and parental care. The common octopus vulgaris has been 

 observed in aquaria guarding its eggs which were attached to 

 the stone walls. It fiercely resented any interference and kept 

 a constant circulation of water flowing, over them to insure 

 that no parasites would take hold and that proper oxygenation 

 would occur. The eggs were not even left long enough for the 

 mother to secure food even though the period of incubation 

 lasted for a considerable time. So intense was this guardianship 

 that another octopus in the same tank which ventured close too 

 frequently was set upon and slain. Mother-love in an octopus 

 seems a strange and outlandish emotion, but no doubt it is 

 actuated by the same flame that causes human parents to sacri- 

 fice their pleasures and desires that Junior, or his sister, for ex- 

 ample, might go to college. 



Cephalopodian care of the egg is responsible for another of 

 the truly paradoxical things about these creatures. In the genus 

 Argonaut a the female carries about with her a beautifully coiled 

 and graceful shell. This seems a contradiction to an earlier 

 statement that the modern cephalopods are creatures which 

 have cast aside their shells. Actually the shell of the Argonauts 

 is not a true shell but is an egg case formed on the spiral shell 

 pattern, which is mechanically a very strong and structurally 

 efficient shape. The Argonaut is not bound to the shell in any 

 way, for it may leave it whenever it desires, which it has been 

 reported to do under certain conditions. No other mollusk is 

 so equipped. Imagine an oyster, for example, opening its valves 

 and stepping out for an airing! The shell is held in position by 

 two arms which are specially formed for the purpose. Only 

 the female possesses this protection, and she forms the shell, 

 not with the mantle as do all other mollusks, but with her two 

 modified arms with their expanded membranous disks. When 

 the Argonauts are first bom they have no shells and they do 



