_Chiroteuthis Veranyi_ is remarkable on account of the great length of the tentacular arms. These are non-retractile and are employed to seize their prey when at a distance. [Illustration: Fig. 42. _Chiroteuthis Veranyi_ (much reduced). _a_, general view of animal; _b_, magnified view of pedunculated sucker of the terminal club of the tentacular arms; _c_, internal shell or gladius. ] The species of Octopus are found on the shores of almost all temperate and tropical seas; they do not attain to a large size, and are without the internal shell or “bone” which is found in the mantle of many Cephalopods. That of the Cuttlefish or _Sepia_ (Fig. 43 _a_) is found in abundance on our coasts; it is composed of numberless layers of a friable calcareous substance. That of the Squid tribe is of quite another character, consisting of an elongate thin horny plate, and strengthened by one or more thickened ribs, in some species somewhat resembling a quill-pen. Some species of this pen-bearing class related to the Common Squid attain an immense size. One was captured off the Irish coast in June, 1875 (probably _Architeuthis harveyi_), with the shorter arms 8 feet in length and 15 inches in circumference at the base, the two tentacular arms having a total length of 30 feet. The powerful beak measured about 4 inches across. Thus from the tip of the tail to the end of the tentacular arms this wonderful monster must have measured something like 40 feet in length. Other very large specimens of _Architeuthis_ have been captured on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Two specimens stranded on the south coast of Newfoundland, in the winter of 1870–1871, measured respectively 40 and 47 feet. Another, cast ashore at Bonavista Bay in December, 1873, had a very stout body 14 feet long, arms 10 feet, and tentacles 24 feet in length. These are only a few of the many instances of the capture of gigantic Cephalopods, which occur not only in the North-Atlantic Ocean, but also in tropical seas. Their appearance in mid-ocean may, in some instances, have given rise to the tales of “Sea-serpents.” Specimens much smaller than those mentioned above have attacked men, and pearl-fishers are in constant fear of them. One of the arms of a large Squid (_Architeuthis harveyi?_), which is supposed to have been found off the coast of South America, is exhibited in the black upright Case A at the side of the room. [Illustration: Fig. 43. The Common Cuttlefish (_Sepia officinalis_), and its shell or bone (_a_). ]