ANIMAL LIFE IN THE GULF STREAM. 



649 



ANIMAL LIFE IN THE GULF STREAM. 



By EALPH S. TAER. 



IN the Gulf Stream, near the surface, animal life is extremely 

 abundant, both young and adult finding the warm waters of 

 the current peculiarly adapted for life and rapid growth. Cuttle- 

 fish swim about, chased by sword-fish, dolphins, and sharks. At- 

 tracted by the glare of the electric lights in the evening, large 

 schools sport around the United States Fish Commission steamer 

 Albatross, swimming backward and forward with equal facility, 

 leaping out of water and ejecting their black, inky fluid whenever 

 surprised. Many devices were tried for the capture of one of 

 these quick-motioned creatures, but we failed to secure any until 

 an ingenious sailor rigged a peculiar spear, which, when properly 

 used, would bring the cuttle-fish on board. This curious animal, 

 classed by naturalists among the mollusks, or shell-fish, has so 

 little resemblance to its rela- 

 tives, oysters and clams, that 

 an average observer would be 

 far more likely to place it 

 among the true fishes. It has 

 large, prominent eyes, and its 

 mouth is armed with a horny 

 beak, very much like a par- 

 rot's bill. With this it un- 

 doubtedly proves itself a dan- 

 gerous enemy to many marine 

 animals. Forward motion is 

 obtained by a fin-like tail, while 

 it moves backward by sudden- 

 ly forcing water out of a bag 

 having its opening near the 

 creature's mouth. Ten arms 

 or feelers, with their inner sur- 

 faces lined with suckers, are 

 arranged about the mouth. Al- 

 though it seldom grows over a 



foot long, an embrace from its arms is painful. How much more 

 so must it be in the case of the large octopus, or devil-fish, of the 

 North, which is often forty feet in length, measured from the tips 

 of the two long arms ! In this latter animal the suckers are some- 

 times two inches in diameter, and, when worked by the powerful 

 muscles, painful wounds can be produced. From earliest times 

 fabulous accounts of a creature like this have been circulated, 



VOL. XXXV. — 41* 



Fig. 1.— Cuttle-Fish (Sepia officinalis) and Shell. 



