124 MODERN SEA FISHING 



extraordinary creatures have one common peculiarity : their 

 limbs grow from the place where their necks ought to be, and 

 thus they may almost be said to walk on their heads. For this 

 reason they are termed cephalopoda. 



The octopus, squid and cuttle have no outer shells, and 

 protect themselves from their enemies by expelling from a 

 little bag an inky fluid which discolours the water and hides 

 them. Most of the head-footed ones and the octopus in par- 

 ticularhave the power of changing colour at will, making 

 themselves almost invisible when clinging to rocks. 



Of the octopus (poulpe or devil fish), there are many species. 

 As the name indicates, it has eight feet, arms, or feelers, which 

 are united near the body by a web, just as the toes of a duck 

 are joined together. On each feeler are two rows of suckers, a 

 hundred and twenty of them to each arm, so that the fish not 

 only has the power of seizing its unfortunate prey by enclosing 

 it in its hideous arms, but, by merely touching it and bringing 

 its suckers to bear, can hold it fast. It is a night feeder, hiding 

 during the day. Mr. S. Hanley, the conchologist, when winter- 

 ing in Italy, observed some octopods in Leghorn Harbour, the 

 tentacles of which were about four feet in length. They were 

 greatly feared by the divers and bathers of the place. In 1879 

 a Government diver named Small was caught by an octopus at 

 the bottom of the sea, in the tidal portions of the river Mogne, 

 Melbourne. Fortunately, he had one arm free, and drawing an 

 iron bar towards him with his foot, he successfully fought the 

 monster which measured nearly eight feet across and was 

 pulled up to the surface in a state of great exhaustion and terror 

 at the end of about twenty minutes. 



With their powerful beaks these creatures can break the 

 shells of crabs and lobsters, but are themselves fed on by many 

 kinds of sea fish, particularly congers. Quite a horrible tragedy 

 once took place in Havre Aquarium. It was graphically de- 



