120 



CLAMS, OYSTERS, AND MUSSELS 



in length. The octopus, as its name mdicates, has eight 

 arms, all of which are provided with suckers. Although 



n:iany thrilling tales 

 have been written 

 about the devilfish, 

 or octopus, not one 

 authentic account has 

 been given of actual 

 harm done to man by 

 this creature. In fact, 

 it seems to be rather 

 timid in its natural 

 haunts, retreating 

 from the presence of 

 man. Its food con- 

 sists almost entirely 

 of crabs, clams, etc. 

 The octopus is eaten 

 as food by some of 

 the people about the 

 Mechterranean. 

 Pearly nautilus. — This member of the Cephalopoda has 

 a well-formed shell coiled in a flat spiral. The interior of 

 the shell is di^dded by partitions into chambers. The ani- 

 mal itself occupies the large outer chamber; and the only 

 communication it has with the other chaml^ers is by means 

 of a long tube, the siphiincle, which pierces the center of 

 each partition and extends through all of them to the tip 

 end of the shell. The })early nautilus is the on!y survivmg 

 member of a large group, the ammonites, that lived during 

 past ages of the earth's history. The shells of the pearly 

 nautilus are common (Fig. 67), but the animals themselves 



Fig. 66. — Cuttlefish. 



