text: when an ink-fish is afraid he shoots?   the cuttle fish is a mollusk without an external shell & about 1-2 feet long.  it is soft, gelatinous brown in colour verging on red & spotted back.  its body is rounded, elliptical & enclosed in a sac furnished with a fleshy fin on each side along its whole length.  the head, which is separated from body by a neck, is salient and round & it has eyes of a lively red colour.  the mouth is surrounded by 10 arms, which are pedunculated, very large & furnished with suckers.    the cuttle fish ink is an excretory liquid contained in a bag about the size & shape of a grape within the abdomen of the cuttle fish.  sepia is a blackish brown liquor found in the contents of the ink-bag of the cuttle fish.  this is very common in the mediterranean sea.  this fluid is utilized by the fish for self-protection and catching its prey.  this is done by darkening the water with this fluid, when it is pursued by its enemy or when it wants to pursue its own prey.  this somewhat resembles the smoke - screen theory of the present day navy and air warfare.