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Cuttle-fish
Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy. Cuttlefish have large, W-shaped pupils, eight arms, and two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey. They generally range in size from , with the largest species, the giant cuttlefish (''Sepia apama''), reaching in mantle length and over in mass. Cuttlefish eat small molluscs, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopus, worms, and other cuttlefish. Their predators include dolphins, sharks, fish, seals, seabirds, and other cuttlefish. The typical life expectancy of a cuttlefish is about 1–2 years. Studies are said to indicate cuttlefish to be among the most intelligent invertebrates. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cephalopod Size
Cephalopods vary enormously in size. The smallest are only about long and weigh less than at maturity, while the largest—the giant and colossal squids—can exceed in length and weigh close to half a tonne (), making them the largest living invertebrates. Living species range in mass more than three-billion-fold, or across nine orders of magnitude, from the lightest hatchlings to the heaviest adults. Certain cephalopod species are also noted for having individual body parts of exceptional size. The giant and colossal squids, for example, have the largest known eyes among living animals. Nilsson ''et al.'', 2012:683 Cephalopods were at one time the largest of all organisms on Earth, and numerous species of comparable size to the largest present day squids are known from the fossil record, including enormous examples of ammonoids, belemnoids, nautiloids, orthoceratoids, teuthids, and vampyromorphids. In terms of mass, the largest of all known cephalopods were likely th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sepiidae
Sepiidae is a family of cephalopods in the order Sepiida. Classification *Order Sepiida: cuttlefish **Family Sepiadariidae **Family Sepiidae ***Genus '' Metasepia'' ****'' Metasepia pfefferi'', flamboyant cuttlefish ****''Metasepia tullbergi'', paintpot cuttlefish ***Genus '' Sepia'' ****Subgenus undetermined *****? '' Sepia bartletti'' *****? ''Sepia baxteri'' * *****? ''Sepia dannevigi'' * *****? ''Sepia elliptica,'' ovalbone cuttlefish *****''Sepia filibrachia'' *****''Sepia mira'' *****''Sepia plana'' *****''Sepia senta'' *****''Sepia subplana'' *****? ''Sepia whitleyana'' ****Subgenus ''Acanthosepion'' *****''Sepia aculeata'', needle cuttlefish *****''Sepia brevimana'', shortclub cuttlefish *****'' Sepia esculenta'', golden cuttlefish *****'' Sepia lycidas'', kisslip cuttlefish *****''Sepia prashadi'', hooded cuttlefish *****''Sepia recurvirostra'', curvespine cuttlefish *****''Sepia savignyi'', broadback cuttlefish *****''Sepia smithi'', Smith's cuttlefish *****''Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuttlebone
Cuttlebone, also known as cuttlefish bone, is a hard, brittle internal structure (an internal shell) found in all members of the family Sepiidae, commonly known as cuttlefish, within the cephalopods. In other cephalopod families it is called a ''gladius''. Cuttlebone is composed primarily of aragonite. It is a chambered, gas-filled shell used for buoyancy control; its siphuncle is highly modified and is on the ventral side of the shell. The microscopic structure of cuttlebone consists of narrow layers connected by numerous upright pillars. Depending on the species, cuttlebones implode at a depth of . Because of this limitation, most species of cuttlefish live on the seafloor in shallow water, usually on the continental shelf. The largest cuttlebone belongs to the Australian giant cuttlefish, which lives between the surface and a maximum depth of 100 metres. Human uses In the past, cuttlebones were ground up to make polishing powder, which was used by goldsmiths. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Cuttlefish
Giant cuttlefish also known as the Australian giant cuttlefish (scientific name ''Sepia apama''), is the world's largest cuttlefish species, growing to in mantle length and up to in total length (total length meaning the whole length of the body including outstretched tentacles). They can be over in weight. Using cells known as chromatophores, the cuttlefish can put on spectacular displays, changing color in an instant. The giant cuttlefish is native to temperate and subtropical waters of Australia, from Brisbane in Queensland to Shark Bay in Western Australia and Tasmania to the south. It occurs on rocky reefs, seagrass beds, and sand and mud seafloor to a depth of . In 2009 the species was listed at Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to an observed declining trend at that time. Lifecycle and reproduction Giant cuttlefish live 1–2 years. Breeding takes place with the onset of the southern winter. Males abandon their normal cryptic coloring and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mollusc Shell
The mollusc (or molluskOften spelled mollusk shell in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" are preferred by ) shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes. Not all shelled molluscs live in the sea; many live on the land and in freshwater. The ancestral mollusc is thought to have had a shell, but this has subsequently been lost or reduced on some families, such as the squid, octopus, and some smaller groups such as the caudofoveata and neomeniomorpha, solenogastres. Today, over 100,000 living species bear a shell; there is some dispute as to whether these shell-bearing molluscs form a monophyletic group (conchifera) or whether shell-less molluscs are interleaved into their family tree. Malacology, the scientific study of molluscs as living organisms, has a branch devoted to the study of shells, and this is called conchology—al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their Viking expansion, overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 7th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid-to-late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse, ''Old West Norse'' or ''Old West Nordic'' (often referred to as ''Old Norse''), Old East Norse, ''Old East Norse'' or ''Old East Nordic'', and ''Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire .... It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literature, Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman (a langues d'oïl, relative of French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate subphylum Vertebrata. Familiar examples of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms and cnidarians. The majority of animal species are invertebrates; one estimate puts the figure at 97%. Many invertebrate taxa have a greater number and variety of species than the entire subphylum of Vertebrata. Invertebrates vary widely in size, from 50 μm (0.002 in) rotifers to the 9–10 m (30–33 ft) colossal squid. Some so-called invertebrates, such as the Tunicata and Cephalochordata, are more closely related to vertebrates than to other invertebrates. This makes the invertebrates paraphyletic, so the term has little meaning in taxonomy. Etymology The word "invertebrate" comes from the Latin word ''vertebra' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cephalopod Intelligence
Cephalopod intelligence is a measure of the cognitive ability of the cephalopod class of molluscs. Intelligence is generally defined as the process of acquiring, storing, retrieving, combining, comparing, and recontextualizing information and conceptual skills. Though these criteria are difficult to measure in nonhuman animals, cephalopods seem to be exceptionally intelligent invertebrates. The study of cephalopod intelligence also has an important comparative aspect in the broader understanding of animal cognition because it relies on a nervous system fundamentally different from that of vertebrates. In particular, the Coleoidea subclass (cuttlefish, squid, and octopuses) is thought to be the most intelligent invertebrates and an important example of advanced cognitive evolution in animals, though nautilus intelligence is also a subject of growing interest among zoologists. The scope of cephalopod intelligence and learning capability is controversial within the biological comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantle (mollusc)
The mantle (also known by the Latin word pallium meaning mantle, robe or cloak, adjective pallial) is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself. In many species of molluscs the epidermis of the mantle secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin, and creates a shell. In sea slugs there is a progressive loss of the shell and the mantle becomes the dorsal surface of the animal. The words mantle and pallium both originally meant cloak or cape, see mantle (vesture). This anatomical structure in molluscs often resembles a cloak because in many groups the edges of the mantle, usually referred to as the ''mantle margin'', extend far beyond the main part of the body, forming flaps, double-layered structures which have been adapted for many different uses, including for example, the siphon. Mantle cavity The ''mantle cavity'' is a central ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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