334 



MOLLUSCS. 



Squids, — Family Loliginid^e. 



Some of the commonest of the horny pen-bearing decapods are the true squids 

 or calamaries (Loligo), which have a more or less elongate body, with very large 

 lateral fins at the posterior end. The eight sessile arms are provided with two 

 rows of suckers with toothed horny rings, and the two tentacular arms are long, 

 slender, and terminate in an expanded club, bearing four rows of suckers. The 

 pen is large, horny, as long as the body of the animal, and placed beneath the 

 skin of the back. It is not in any way attached, so that if the skin be slit 

 open, the shell can be drawn out entire. The common squid (Loligo vulgaris) is 

 met with all round the British coasts, and occurs in shoals of greater or less extent 

 in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The spawn consists of numerous, long, semi- 

 transparent, gelatinous sheaths, radiating from a common centre. Each sheath is 

 about 4 inches in length, and contains numerous ova, and it has been computed 

 that in a single mass of sheaths the deposit of one female contained as many as 

 forty-two thousand perfect young squids. Mr. Lee observes that he has never 

 seen these "sea-mops" attached to anything; and the pelagic habits of the calamaries 

 render it probable that they are left floating on the surface of the sea. They are 

 deposited in May or June. The calamaries are active animals, and always in 

 motion. A second genus of squids (Ommatostrephes), frequently regarded as repre- 

 senting a distinct family, differs from Loligo in having the body very long, the 

 posterior fins comparatively short, and the pen very narrow. They are gregarious, 

 and frequent the open seas in all latitudes, and are extensively used as bait in the 

 cod-fishery off Newfoundland, and also constitute the principal food of dolphins and 

 the sperm-whale. They are also largely eaten by the albatross and other marine 

 birds. By sailors they are called " sea-arrows " and " flying-squids," on account of 

 the rapidity of their movements and their habit of leaping out of the water. It is 

 said that they frequent the shore in pursuit of the fry of pilchards and other fishes. 



The largest of all the Cephalopoda belong to the genus Architeuthis, which 

 in general conformation considerably resembles Ommatostrephes. Many stories of 

 gigantic cuttle-fishes appear in the works of old writers, and although, in the main, 

 great exaggerations, they are to some extent founded on fact. We are, perhaps, 

 too sceptical to believe in an octopus rising from the sea, and carrying off* a three- 

 masted ship. Yet some of the squids are of such enormous size, that we can 

 imagine they constituted the source from which these old tales were derived. In 

 November 1874 a specimen was brought ashore at St. John's, Newfoundland, by 

 some fishermen, who captured it in their herring-nets. It was more or less 

 mutilated in the capture, but the following measurements were taken from the 

 parts preserved. Body 7 feet long, tail-fin 22 inches broad, tentacular arms 24 feet 

 in length, short or sessile arms 6 feet long, some of them being as 10 inches round 

 at the base. Particulars of several other specimens of gigantic squids, varying 

 in total length from 30 to 52 feet, and also taken near Newfoundland, have been 

 recorded ; the estimated weight of one of these being 1000 lbs. 



On the 24th of April 1875 a large calamary was met with off' Boffin Island, 

 on the Irish coast. The crew of a " currah " observed to seaward a large floating 

 mass. They pulled out to it, believing it to be a wreck, but found it was an 



