256 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 



eries ; in Europe they are a common article of food in the sea- 

 shore towns where are they abundant. They feed on small 



fishes and in turn are 

 eaten by larger fishes. 

 A number of giant 

 squids, belonging to a 

 different genus, have 

 been thrown up on vari- 

 ous coasts from time to 

 time. They apparently 

 live in deep water and 

 only occasionally get 

 stranded by storms. 

 Some have been thrown 

 up in various parts of 

 the Pacific, some on the 

 coasts of Ireland and 

 Sweden, but the largest 

 of all have been obtained 

 in Newfoundland and 

 Labrador. One of these 

 had a body over six 

 meters long, and one of 

 its arms measured over 

 ten and a half meters, 

 making a total length 

 of over sixteen and a half meters. Another measured about a 

 meter less. In structure these squids are very much like the 

 smaller species, but nothing is known of their habits. 



FlG. 265. L lig a squid 



B, horny internal shell or pen. 

 Haswell's Manual.) 



. A, dorsal aspect ; 

 (From Parker and 



Order 2. Octopoda 



The Octopoda (Gr. d/crco, eight, and 7rou?, foot) have only 

 eight arms surrounding the mouth, the two long, tentacle-like 

 arms of the Decapoda being wanting. The suckers are not 

 borne on stalks, but are sessile. The body is more rounded and 

 relatively shorter than in the preceding order, and usually with- 

 out lateral fins. There is no shell present, homologous with the 

 shell of the Decapoda, but the female of one species, Argonanta 



