CHAPTER X 
SQUIDS, CUTTLE-FISH, AND THEIR 
ALLIES 
T HE large group of soft-bodied and back¬ 
boneless animals called molluscs is 
divided into numerous sub-divisions or classes, 
that known as the Cephalopoda —a term derived 
from the Greek words Icephale (a head) and 
pous (a foot), and referring to the fact that 
the arms or tentacles of the creatures included 
in that division arise from the front of the 
head and are situated around the mouth— 
comprising squids, the cuttle-fish, the argonaut 
and the octopods. 
The cephalopods are exclusively marine 
dwellers and, with the exception of the ar¬ 
gonaut, have no external shell. As a means 
of support to their soft and flexible bodies, 
however, they are provided with an internal 
shell of varying size and shape. 
Many of the creatures attain to enormous 
dimensions, and the under surface of their arms 
is furnished with numerous disk-like suckers. 
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