MOLLUSKS 163 



tanately it is now lost. Tlie largest ever seen was stranded — while 

 yet alive — on the coast of Newfoundland, and was cut up for dog 

 meat by the fishermen who captured it. Its body was said to have 

 been twenty feet and the tentacles thirty-five feet in length. The 

 fabulous Krakenoi the Norsemen was probably a giant squid In 

 their old sea-tales we read of its devouring ships, and indeed it is 

 well established that large squids have at times attacked fisher- 

 men's boats. 



In every respect, excepting size, these monsters resemble the 

 little short-tailed squid of the New England coast. Nothing is 

 known of the habits of the giant squid, although it probably lives 

 in deep water off the Banks and only occasionally comes to the sur- 

 face at night Powerful as these monsters are, thoy are greedily 

 devoured by the sperm whale. 



The American Devil-Fish, (Octopus americmms, Fig. 113 J. 

 This creature is found upon the coral reefs of Florida and the 

 West Indies, where it lives within rocky crevices, the color of which 

 it exactly matches. Here it lies in wait for prey, and the floor and 

 entrance of its den are strewn with the broken shells of mollusks 

 and Crustacea that have fallen victims to the Octopus. It also 

 glides ghost-like over the sands, resembling the glistening white 

 bottom so completely that it is all but invisible. This gliding 

 movement is accomplished by opening and closing the umbrella- 

 like web that forms a span between the bases of the arms. At every 

 such pulsation the creature shoots backward, trailing its eight long 

 arms, which extend straight outward. The creature can also accom- 

 plish the same movement, or a side motion, by expelling the Avater 

 from its siphon tube, which usually projects out to one side from 

 the edge of the mantle. If grasped the writhing arms, with their 

 double rows of suckers, instantly seize upon the tormentor, and the 

 sharp, parrot-like beak inflicts a painful wound. Ink is also ejected 

 from the siphon, and a wonderful play of colors pass over the body, 

 flashing steely blue, green, brilliant white, rusty red or dull brown. 

 When removed from the water the creature thrashes about in hide- 

 ous contortions for a few minutes and then dies utterly exhausted. 

 The eyes are frog-like and prominent, with a slit-shaped pupil, and 

 the skin around them can be drawn together from all sides, form- 

 ing a veritable eye-lid. The body is soft and rounded and there 



