2018-01-192018-01-191965https://repository.marine-research.ru/handle/299011/99Bottom forms of Cephalopoda – Sepioidea and Octopoda – dwell mainly in littoral and sublittoral zones to 200 m depth. Compared to pelagic Cephalopoda, the morphology of bottom-dwelling forms is characterized by less developed locomotor apparatus, in particular smaller mantle cavity volume and relative thickness of mantle muscles, altered body shape (some Octopoda have their fins absolutely vanished) and the structure of skin coverings. In the morphofunctional analysis of a series of protective and camouflage adaptations that Sepioidea and Octopoda have evolved we used cephalopods (Octopus sp., Eledone moschata Lam., E. cirrosa Lam, O. vulgaris Lam., Sepia officinalis, S. elegans D’Orb, Sepia orbigniana Ferus) collected by the author from the Mediterranean and the Red seas during the expedition of the RV “Academician Kovalevsky”. The proposed comparative description examines the shape of mollusc body as a masking device; alteration of the cutaneous covering structure; protective function of the bony frame of Sepioidea; ink ejection; jaw apparatus; tentacles and hands.ru