THE CALAMARIES. 165 



150 tons of polypi; and the Jerbah waters a third of this quantity. The remaining coast and 

 islands may be calculated to furnish a minimum of 650 cwt. to 700 cwt. of dried Cuttle-fish. 



" The Octopods prefer the rocky shallows, and are found in those waters, coming from the open 

 sea to deposit their eggs in the months of January, February, and March ; but a considerable 

 number remain permanently near the shore. 



" In deep water they are taken by means of earthen jars strung together and lowered to the bottom 

 of the sea, where they are allowed to remain for a certain number of hours, and into which the fishes 

 introduce themselves. Frequently from eight to ten Octopods are taken from every jar, at each visit 

 of the fishermen. In less deep water, earthenware drain pipes are placed side by side for distances 

 frequently exceeding half a mile in length, and in these also the Octopods enter, and are subsequently 

 captured. As the} are attracted by all white, smooth, and bright substances, the natives deck places 

 in the creek and hollows of the rock with white stones and shells, over which the polypi spread them- 

 selves, and so are caught from four up to eight at a time." * 



SECTION B. DECAPODA. 

 FAMILY III.- TEUTHID^E. 



Leaving the eight-footed division of two-gilled Cephalopoda, we come next in order to the ten- 

 footed family of the Teuthiche,^ the name applied by Aristotle to the Calamaries and Squids. 



This embraces a very extensive and most interesting series, remarkable not only for the symmetry 

 of their forms, but also as numbering among them some of the largest members of the whole order, 

 the veritable " Anakims and Nephilim," the giants of the Molluscan kingdom. 



Besides the eight ordinary feet possessed by the Octopods, these Decapods, or ten-footed forms, 

 are furnished with two greatly-elongated tentacles, having expanded club-shaped extremities covered 

 with suckers. The eight ordinary feet are comparatively shorter than those of the Octopods ; the 

 dorsal pair being usually the shortest, arid the ventral the longest. The tentacles take their origin 

 within the circle of these eight feet, between the third and fourth pairs ; in CJieiroteuthis they are 

 .six times as long as the animal itself. In Sepia, Sepiola, and Rossia they are completely retractile 

 into large sub-orbicular pouches. In Loligo and Sepioteuthis they are partially retractile ; but in 

 Ckeiroteuthis they are non-retractile. They serve, like the lasso of the American Indian, to seize their 

 prey, when beyond the reach of the ordinary arms, or to moor the animal to any floating objects, or for 

 safety during the agitation of a stormy sea. 



The suckers of the Calamaries differ from those of Octopus, &c., the latter being fixed flat upon 

 the tentacles, whilst the former are supported 011 peduncles or foot-stalks; they are, moreover, bordered 

 by a horny ring which is finely serrated at the edge. The eyes, which are large, are movable in their 

 sockets, giving them a weird and " uncanny" aspect. In most of this group, the funnel is furnished with 

 an internal valve. 



The shell in the Calamaries is delicate, translucent, and horny, and called the "pen," or the 

 gladius (sword) ; in the Cuttle fishes it is a calcareous " bone " (so-called), or seplostaire. In the 

 genus Spirilla it is a delicate spiral tube, divided into chambers by a series of nacreous partitions 

 (septa}. In all, it is internal. Yet, with the exception of Spirula, it is not attached to the animal by 

 any muscles, but is only loosely lodged in the middle of the back of the mantle. So loosely does it lie 

 within this cavity, that when the body is cut open it readily falls out. The fossil forms, as we shall 

 presently see, have other modifications of their shells, but all are internal. 



Like the gregarious fishes which frequent the open sea, the Squids and Cuttles appear periodi- 

 cally in great shoals on the coasts and banks. This migratory instinct is connected either with the 

 pursuit of particular food, or, as is more frequently the case, it is caused by the females seeking suitable 

 places for spawning. The integument, or skin, of all is provided with c/trom atop/tores, which are sacs with 

 elastic walls, full of pigment, and provided with radiating muscles, by which they may be drawn out 

 to a size many times greater than that which they occupy in their contracted state. In their dilated 

 condition, the colour proper to the contained pigment becomes plainly visible, while in their contracted 

 state they appear as mere dark specks. It is to the successive expansion and contraction of these 



* Report on Tunisian Fisheries, by Mr. W. K. Green, H.B.M. Consul at Tunis. 

 t Tcuthid(ethe "Squid" tribe. 



