SQUID DISSECTION – BIOL 214

This practical will deepen our understanding of the comparative anatomy that we have
discussed so far in lectures. We will examine and dissect a squid to learn more about the
body plan of cephalopods.
Instructions: Watch the video on dissecting a squid. It has important information and hints
on dissecting techniques. HOWEVER it is only a guideline and to do your dissection you
will follow the protocol below. Students should work in pairs to inspect and dissect the
animal. Follow the prac protocol and complete each step in order. If you have trouble
identifying specific features, one of the demonstrators will be available to help you.

ASSESSMENT:
Correct labels attached to the specimen 14
marks
Neatness of the dissection, properly pinned out with all features visible 10
Radula dissected out 1

Labels you will need:

1) Tentacle 2) Exhalant siphon

3) Beak and bucchal mass 4) Pedicles on the hectocotylous arm
5) Skirt 6) Oesophagous
7) Gills 8) Branchial and systemic hearts
9) Cecum and stomach 10) Ink sac
11) Nidamental glands OR testes 12) Rectum / anus
13) Liver / ‘kidneys’ 14) Pen (extracted)
15) Radula dissected out

External Anatomy
Place a squid in a dissecting pan of suitable size and observe the external anatomy:

 The body is composed of the anterior head and a long, conical, posterior visceral hump
 The column of tissue connecting the head and the visceral hump is the neck.
 The visceral hump is the long narrow cone that forms the remainder of the body. Its thick
muscular walls are the mantle, which encloses the large mantle cavity and the visceral
mass. The open water space within the mantle is the mantle cavity. The organs in the core
of the visceral hump make up the visceral mass.
 The posterior end of the animal bears a pair of lateral fins displaced a little to the dorsal side
of the cone.
 The free anterior margin of the mantle is the skirt or collar (Fig 1)
 Ventrally the funnel, It lies below the head on the ventral midline and is the exhalant
siphon through which water exits the mantle cavity. Contractions of circular muscles in the
mantle force jets of water from mantle cavity out the funnel. The animal relies on this for
propulsion and respiration. Water enters the mantle cavity via two lateral inhalant
siphons between the mantle and funnel
  The skin of the squid may be mottled. Press it with your finger and see if it changes colour,
due to chromatophores in the skin.

Observation of Head and Foot

 The head is the combined head and foot of the ancestral mollusc and the name Cephalopoda
(ceph = head, pod = foot) alludes to this combination. The foot of cephalopods is divided
into numerous suckered, flexible, appendages, either arms or tentacles. Squids and
cuttlefishes have a total of 10 appendages. Eight of their appendages are relatively
shortarms, and two are much longer tentacles
 The appendages on each side of the mouth are numbered 1-5 from dorsal to ventral. Starting
dorsally on the right, find and assign numbers to the five right appendages. Appendage 1 is
the dorsalmost appendage and is the shortest Appendages 1, 2, 3, and 5 are arms. Each arm
bears two rows of suckers.
 The fourth appendage is a tentacle and it is much longer than any arm. It is expanded distally
to form a club with four rows of suckers. Except for the club, the tentacles do not bear
suckers. The clubs are used to capture food which is transferred to the arms for
manipulation.
 The left fifth appendage of males (from the dorsal side) is slightly modified to form
a hectocotylus arm, which is used to transfer spermatophores to the female. Its suckers have
reduced cups and enlarged pedicles. The pedicles are long, fingerlike, and arranged in a
comblike row at the end of the arm.
 With magnification look at a large sucker near the base of an arm. The oldest and
largest suckers are proximal on the arm and new suckers are added to the growing distal
tip. The suckers are usually not symmetrical and each consists of a deep, muscular cup with
a toothed, chitinous ring for reinforcement
 The cup is attached to the arm via a slender, muscular, pedicle. The distal end of the pedicle
is expanded to form a disk-shaped piston that can be seen in the bottom of the cup. When in
contact with a firm surface, the rim of the cup seals against the surface. Contraction of the
pedical withdraws the piston and generates a suction inside the cup. The cups continue to
function even in dead (fresh) specimens and sometimes even in preserved specimens.
 The arms and tentacles are borne on a ring of muscle that surrounds the mouth. Look at the
anterior end of the head, en face, using magnification if necessary. Spread the
appendages apart so you can see the mouth in the center of the circle of arms. It is a
large opening equipped with a pair of dorsal and ventral brown or transparent,
proteinacous jaws, forming a beak resembling that of a parrot
 The mouth is surrounded by two concentric circular membranes. The outermost is
the buccal membrane. It covers the bases of the appendages and has seven small, suckered
points on its margin.
 Starting between the left and right groups of tentacles on the ventral side use scissors to
cut along the midline from the mouth towards the posterior This will expose the buccal
bulb containing the beak. Lift the bulb with forceps to see the pharynx attached at the
back.
 Extract the beak, and look at the shape of the two jaws. You may see the radula – it
looks like a small piece of plastic to the naked eye. What does it look like under a
dissecting microscope?
 DISSECTION

With scissors make a longitudinal, ventral incision a little to the right or left of the ventral
midline of the visceral hump. Begin at the skirt and cut posteriorly all the way to the posterior
end of the hump to open the mantle cavity as in Figure 3. Use pins inserted into the wax to hold
the cavity open if needed

Examine the cut surface of the ventral mantle wall. Most of its thickness is muscle composed
mostly of circular and radial fibers. There are connective tissue sheaths on both sides of the muscle
layer and the dermis lies outside the outer sheath.

MANTLE CAVITY
The mantle cavity and its contents are now visible and, much of the internal anatomy can also be seen
through the thin body wall lining the mantle.
The mantle cavity extends posteriorly almost to the end of the visceral hump. Note that the funnel
opens into the mantle cavity anteriorly and that its posterior margin is thin and flexible. The
mantle skirt is joined via three interlocking junctions to the funnel and head (Fig 3).

Open the funnel with a midventral, longitudinal incision along its entire length and look inside
it. Try to find a thin, flexible sheet of tissue just inside the anterior opening that is a one-way valve to
prevent the intake of water through the funnel during inhalation.

The funnel can be aimed by the squid to control the direction of motion. Aiming is controlled by a
pair of large, longitudinal funnel retractor muscles that look like white cords extending
posteriorly from the funnel beside the visceral mass. These muscles insert on the sides of the
funnel and originate on the broad posterior end of the pen.
Study the structures visible in the visceral hump. The two large gills are located laterally, beside
the visceral mass in about the middle of the mantle cavity. Each is long and feathery and composed
of numerous non-ciliated gill filaments projecting from a longitudinal central axis. The axis is
attached by a thin sheet of tissue to the roof of the mantle cavity.
To better see the features of the gill, you may need to carefully cut the gill’s connection to the
mantle on one side.

Look for a small oval branchial heart at the base of each gill. These are accessory hearts that
supply the gills with unoxygenated blood.
Identify the systemic heart that lies between the brachial hearts. And the lobes of the posterior
and anterior vena cava

Find the ink sac – it has a dark metallic sheen. Running towards the anterior is the ink duct.
Right alongside it see the intestine. An orange-coloured organ, the kidney- may also be visibleThe
ink duct and intestine join at the rectum, on the dorsal side of the visceral mass just before the anus.
Both ink and wastes are expelled via the anus through the funnel. The intestine may be visible just
behind and underneath the funnel. Lift the posterior margin of the funnel and identify the tube of
the intestine,

Under the posterior vena cava is a large oval organ the caecum - that takes up quite a bit of the
posterior part of the mantle cavity. To the left of the caecum, the stomach may be visible.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

Obviously what you see here will depend on whether you have a male or female squid. However, it
may also vary according to whether the animal is mature or not, and at what stage of the reproductive
cycle the animal was when it was caught.

MALE:
On the right (with the squid facing away from you) identify the testis which lies next to the
caecum, with the vas deferens adjacent to it, closer to the margin.
Lift up the viscera to see the dorsal side. A whitish tube runs towards the funnel – this is the
penis.

FEMALE
Two large nidamental glands lie over the caecum, posterior to the gills. Just under them find
the ovary, and on the left is the oviductal gland. The oviductal glands secrete the egg shells, while
the nidamental glands secrete a substance that binds the egg bundles.

NERVOUS SYSTEM
Not much of this will be visible – but look for the star shaped Stellate Ganglion, next to the mantle
retractor muscle.
Also try to find the giant axon – the largest nerve in the animal kingdom! It runs along the side of the
mantle.

TO END OFF

Finally, partially lift the entire visceral mass from the dorsal side of the mantle, taking care not
to rupture the organs. Reach underneath the viscera and extract the PEN – the remnants of the
molluscan shell
 Ventral view of a female squid

A female squid with the mantle cavity open and viewed ventrally.
Ventral view of a female squid with the mantle cavity opened. The nidamental glands have
been removed