• 14 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Squid Diagram Labeled

A squid from below, outside on the left and opened on the right.

Squid Diagram Labeled

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Fins
  2. Mantle
  3. Funnel
  4. Eyes
  5. Head
  6. Arms
  7. Suckers
  8. Tentacles
  9. Pen
  10. Stomach
  11. Gills
  12. Heart
  13. Ink sac
  14. Beak

Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Another lab specimen: the crayfish

All 14 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Start here: 6 main parts 6

  1. Fins A flap along each side of the mantle, at the pointed end. They help steer. The funnel does most of the pushing.
  2. Mantle The mantle: the long, muscular tube that holds the organs. Squeezing it pushes water out through the funnel.
  3. Head The head, between the mantle and the ring of arms.
  4. Arms The arms: eight around the mouth, each lined with suckers.
  5. Tentacles Two, much longer than the arms. They have suckers only on the broad club at the tip.
  6. Gills A pair in the mantle cavity. They take oxygen from the water pumped over them.

The outside: 8 3

  1. Funnel Water squirted out of it drives the squid by jet propulsion. Pointing it steers. Also called the siphon.
  2. Eyes One on each side of the head. Built much like a fish’s eye.
  3. Suckers Round discs that grip prey. They are on the arms and on the tips of the tentacles.

Inside: 6 5

  1. Pen A thin, feather-shaped strip inside the back. Also called the gladius. All that is left of a shell. It stiffens the body.
  2. Stomach Roughly in the middle of the organs. A long esophagus reaches it from the mouth.
  3. Heart The systemic heart, between the gills. It pumps blood round the body.
  4. Ink sac Holds dark ink that the squid squirts into the water. This hides its escape.
  5. Beak Hard jaws, like a parrot’s beak. They are in the mouth at the center of the arms.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) Wikipedia, Squid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid : eight arms and two tentacles surround the mouth, with disc-like suckers; the tentacles are much longer than the arms, with suckers only on the spatulate tip (the manus or club); part of the foot is a funnel through which water leaves the mantle cavity, used for jet propulsion and to steer; the mantle has a swimming fin along each side, not the main means of moving in most species; the shell is reduced to an internal chitinous pen that stiffens the body; the mantle cavity holds the gills; the eyes are on either side of the head, much like a fish’s eye; the mouth has a horny beak and a radula; a long oesophagus leads to a muscular stomach roughly in the middle of the visceral mass; the systemic heart; the ink sac and ink as a distraction. (2) OpenStax, Biology 2e, section 28.4, https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/28-4-superphylum-lophotrochozoa-molluscs-and-annelids : in cephalopods the foot is a funnel expelling water from the mantle cavity and a circle of arms and tentacles; the shell of squids is an internal pen; beak-like jaws with the radula; suckers on the arms and tentacles; siphons for jet propulsion; the ink gland lies between the gills. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This squid diagram is labeled on two squids side by side, seen from below: the outside on the left, and on the right the same squid with the mantle opened. Start with the 6 main parts.

Read the full guide

The outside

The long mantle holds the organs, with a fin along each side at the pointed end. Below the head is the funnel, which squirts water to drive the squid along. Eight arms with suckers ring the mouth, and two longer tentacles carry suckers only on their club-shaped tips.

Inside

Open the mantle from below and the gills sit either side, with the heart between them and the ink sac lower down. Behind them runs the pen, the thin remains of a shell. The beak sits in the mouth among the arms.

  • Count the limbs: 8 arms and 2 tentacles make 10, and the tentacles are the two much longer ones.

Questions and answers

What is the pen in a squid?

A thin, feather-shaped strip inside the squid's back, called the gladius. It is all that is left of a shell and stiffens the body.

How does a squid swim?

By jet propulsion. It draws water into the mantle, then squeezes it out through the funnel. Pointing the funnel changes direction; the fins mostly help steer.

What is the difference between squid arms and tentacles?

A squid has 8 arms with suckers all along them and 2 tentacles that are much longer, with suckers only on the broad club at the tip.

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