3306 THE MOLL US KS OR SHELLFISH 



body, so that the animal is enabled to capture its prey at some distance. C. vewnyi 

 occurs in the Mediterranean, C. bonplandi in the Atlantic, and C. lacertosa off the 

 east coast of the United States. 



TRUE CUTTLEFISHES Family SEPIID^E 



In the cuttlefishes of the genus Sepia the body is oval with a fin on each side 

 extending the whole length. The eight sessile arms are furnished with suckers 

 having footstalks, and the long tentacular arms are entirely retractile within the 

 head. The dorsal plate, shell, or cuttle bone, is generally almost as wide as the 

 body, and placed beneath the skin of the back, with the terminal spine posteriorly. 

 This is supposed to protect the hinder parts of the animals, in the frequent collisions 

 they are exposed to in swimming backward. About sixty species of Sepia have 

 already been described, none of very large size, the largest one being only about a 

 foot and a half in length. A fine specimen of 5". apama in the British Museum is 

 seventeen inches long. They occur in all parts of the world, and three species are 

 recorded from the coasts of Britain. They live near shore, and feed upon fish and 

 crustaceans, which they seize with their rapidly unrolled tentacles. Speaking of 

 the common cuttlefish (S. officinalis), Mr. I^ee observes that though flabby and 

 clammy in death, it is a lovely object when alive. Unlike the octopus, but equally 

 rapacious, it loves the daylight and freedom of the open sea. L,ike the calamaries, 

 the sepia is extensively employed as an article of diet in many parts of the world. 

 Dried cuttlefishes are exposed for sale in the bazaars or markets throughout India, 

 and may be seen among the articles of Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese food. 

 The ink of the cuttlefish was employed as a writing material in very ancient times, 

 its use being mentioned in the works of some of the old Latin writers; the ink bags 

 of cuttles are still manufactured into sepia by artists' colormen. Eggs of the com- 

 mon cuttle resemble black pointed grapes, each having a flexible stalk, looking and 

 feeling like India rubber. They are generally attached to the stems of seaweed. 

 Each capsule contains a single young one. 



Family SPIRULID^E 



Spirula represents the last of the three divisions into which the living 

 decapods have been divided. The shell of the spirula is abundant on the shores 

 of some tropical countries, but the animal is scarcely ever met with. Only a few 

 specimens have been captured, and most of these are in bad con- 

 dition. The shell is entirely white, pearly within, placed verti- 

 cally within the posterior part of the body, so that the spire 

 corresponds to the ventral side of the animal. It is a loosely 

 coiled structure, resembling a ram's horn, and is divided into a 

 number of chambers by fine concave partitions, like the shell of Spirula peroni. 

 a nautilus, each one pierced by a slender tube or siphon near the 

 inner curve of the shell. Three species are known, distinguished by differences in 

 the soft parts, the shells being similar. 



