Cephalopoda
/ˌsɛfələˈpəʊdə
/ /ˌkɛfələˈpəʊdə/plural noun Zoology
A large class of active predatory molluscs comprising octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish. They have a distinct head with large eyes and a ring of tentacles around a beaked mouth, and are able to release a cloud of inky fluid to confuse predators.This section covers almost all of the Mollusca except the three huge clades of advanced mollusks: Bivalvia, Cephalopoda, and Gastropoda....
- It is also now generally thought that they were ancestral to the Cephalopoda and Scaphopoda as well.
- The class Cephalopoda has been traditionally divided into three subclasses on the basis of shell structure, or two subclasses on the basis of gills and other soft parts.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from Greek kephalē 'head' + pous, pod- 'foot'.