Introduction Cephalopods are a remarkable group of animals, with a huge array of adaptations. They can change colour faster than a chameleon plus change texture and body shape. They have three hearts pumping blue blood, are jet powered (water is forced through their siphon by contracting their mantel to provide quick thrust) and have representatives in all oceans of the world - from the tropics to the poles - the intertidal to the abyss. And …
showed first 75 words of 1123 total

showed last 75 words of 1123 total
…conducting impulses in either direction. The mantle of the common squid is supplied with nerves of exceptionally large diameter. (Most axons measure from 1um to 10um; the giant axons of squid are nearly 1000um.) These are extremely fast conducting and serve to obtain a nearly simultaneous contraction of the entire mantle. A single axon can have thousands of synaptic connections, and function as cables, with the synapses serving as highly complex contact or switching devises.