39*5 Shell Life 



clothes are well covered with the jet-black ink, which 

 has a painful burning effect on the skin, as well as 

 being difficult to wash off. On a coast where this 

 species is very plentiful, and where the " bones " of 

 Sepia are abundant along ttie beaches, I have never 

 seen a pen of the Squid so cast up. The explanation 

 appears to be that when conger and other fishes bolt 

 the Sepia they are unable to digest its shell, which is 

 afterwards vomited in a clean condition. The " pen" of 

 Loligo under similar conditions appears to be digested 

 and so is got rid of altogether. The eggs of this 

 species are deposited in long gelatinous sheaths, each 

 containing man}^ ova. These egg-cases are united to 

 form large masses known as " sea-mops," which float 

 loosely in the sea. Bohadsch estimated one of these 

 mops to contain 40,000 eggs. The Common Squid 

 occurs on all our coasts. 



Two other species are included in the British 

 fauna : L. 7}iar')noTce — with much broader fins 

 situated farther back — taken off Youghal, Ireland ; 

 and L. viedia, found at Jersey, Plymouth, Tenby, 

 and Lamlash Bay. These are both small species, 

 measuring only 4 or 5 inches, excluding the tentacles. 

 All the Loligos can swim forwards by using their 

 fins, as well as dart backwards by expelling water 

 from the funnel. 



In the family OinniastrepJiidai the animal is of 

 similar shape to Loligo, but the fins are only half 

 the length and placed right at the end of the body. 

 The rows of suckers on the arms vary in number, 

 and the arms have a more voluminous web for 

 swimming. The attachment of the mantle-margin 

 to the neck is more elaborate than in preceding 



