CHAPTER VII: THE FLYING SQUIDS AND 



GIANT SQUIDS 



Family Ommastrephid^ 



Body cylindrical, capable of swift flight through the water, 

 fins united, posterior, usually terminal, rhomboidal like arrow- 

 head; arms fitted with suckers and cushions, perfectly fitted; 

 mantle connections elaborate; pen horny, narrow, lance-shaped, 

 tapering backward to a hollow cone; eyes cleft to admit sea 

 water. Distribution world-wide. 



Genus OMMASTREPHES, d'Orb. 



Sessile arms webbed for swimming; wrist of each club of 

 tentacles fitted with cushions and suckers to fit opposite wrist; 

 fins dorsal; eyelids movable; food, fish, such as mackerel. Ene- 

 mies, cod and other fish, dolphins, whales, large birds. Distri- 

 bution, all northern and temperate oceans. Uses, bait for cod, 

 and other deep sea fish. 



"Sea arrow" is the sailor's name for these squids, which 

 are oftenest seen in swarms; with fins foremost and arms trailing 

 after, they look like barbed and feathered arrows. The impet- 

 uous onset often becomes a real flight. They rise from the ocean 

 like flying fish and occasionally hurl themselves upon the deck 

 of a vessel in a frenzy. The leap is often fit teen to eighteen 

 feet clear of the water. 



Into a school of mackerel or herring these squids carry devas- 

 tation, striking right and left, devouring with extreme rapacity, 

 and cutting and biting many they do not eat, as if mad with 

 the spirit of destruction. The uniform method of killing is by 

 a bite on the back of the neck, the fish being first run down and 

 seized by the arms of the foe. It is noted that the body of the 

 sea arrow changes colour frequently during the excitement of 

 killing its prey. 



Moon-gazing is a habit that leads squids into sad straits. 



455 



