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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



grouper on his line ; for even when armed 

 with the heaviest rod, a reel as big in 

 comparison as the cylinder of an automo- 

 bile engine, and a line which approaches 

 a hawser in thickness, he is pretty sure 

 to wish, at least subconsciously, that his 

 equipment was twice as formidable and 

 his arm thrice as strong. 



What, indeed, must his sensation be the 

 first time when, looking overboard at his 

 baited hook 30 feet below in the clear 

 waters of the Gulf Stream, he sees, as 

 plainly as if in a mirror, the approach and 

 attack of a giant jewfish, which is just as 

 likely to weigh 500 pounds as 50, for it 

 sometimes grows as big as a pony along 

 the Florida coral reef and is just about 

 as strong ! 



UNRELATED MONSTERS OE THE DEEP 



When one starts in to tell of the amaz- 

 ing variety of undersea life along the 

 Florida east coast, it is difficult to decide 

 where to begin and end, for it is an inex- 

 haustible subject. Such being the case, I 

 will not attempt a survey of it now, but 

 will confine myself to the experience of 

 our party in hunting and capturing a 

 devil-fish, said to be the largest specimen 

 taken in American waters in twenty years. 



In the general mind the devil-fish and 

 the octopus are frequently confused, 

 whereas they belong to entirely different 

 fish families, and the only physical re- 

 semblance between these two gentry lies 

 in the fact that they both live in the same 

 waters. The devil-fish, or Manta biros- 

 tris of science, belongs to the giant ray 

 family — a huge batlike creature which 

 uses its body fins as a bird does its wings 

 in flying, with a waving, undulating mo- 

 tion, which propels it along beneath the 

 water at remarkable speed. 



Aside from its immense wing-spread, 

 the outstanding feature of the devil-fish, 

 and the one from which it derives its 

 satanic name, are the lobes, or, as they 

 are sometimes termed, cephalic fins, 

 which extend outward and upward from 

 each side of its flat head like curling 

 horns. 



In the adult fish the head fins are from 

 three to four feet in length and about six 

 inches wide. Nature has fashioned them 

 of a leathery muscle tissue which spells 

 strength in every ounce. 



When the giant ray dashes into a school 

 of fish, these head fins are of great assist- 

 ance in obtaining food, for, like the arms 

 of a boxer, they are in constant motion, 

 whirling about and sweeping its living 

 prey into the yard-wide mouth with al- 

 most lightning speed, as it hurls its great 

 body about in its natural element. 



The remarkable strength and twisting 

 movements of the so-called horns are re- 

 sponsible for many of the allegations 

 lodged against this fish as a menace to 

 mankind, whereas, unless attacked and 

 in panic, the huge sea-bat hurts no one. 



As a matter of fact, however, there are 

 a number of authentic reports of the 

 devil-fish's running foul of a ship's an- 

 chor chain. True to instinct, it clasps the 

 chain tight by wrapping its tenacula 

 horns or feelers about it, applies its tre- 

 mendous strength, lifts the heavy anchor 

 as if it were a feather, and starts to sea 

 with the anchor, chain, and ship, to the 

 amazement and terror of the crew, who 

 cannot believe their very eyes, as their 

 vessel moves onward at a fast pace with- 

 out a sail set or an engine's turning over, 

 when, to all appearances, a moment be- 

 fore their vessel was moored to the ocean 

 floor. 



THE OED MAN OE THE SEA 



The octopus, on the other hand, al- 

 though sometimes termed "devil-fish," is 

 of another family entirely, an inverte- 

 brate, known to science as the typical 

 genus of Cephalopods, or, in plain words, 

 the highest class of mollusca, in which 

 squids, cuttle-fish, and octopi are grouped. 

 In Pacific waters the giant octopus, tech- 

 nically known as Octopus punctatus, 

 grows to an immense size ; indeed, cap- 

 tured specimens have measured a radial 

 spread of 20 to 30 feet. 



In appearance the octopus is most re- 

 pulsive, having a large, ugly head, a fierce- 

 looking mouth, armed with a pair of pow- 

 erful horny jaws, shaped much like a 

 parrot's beak, atopped with two diaboli- 

 cal eyes set close together, which are posi- 

 tively capable of sending forth a demo- 

 niac glare when angered. The grotesque 

 head is mounted on a somewhat oval 

 body, from which radiate eight arms, 

 usually united at the body base by a 

 membrane. The arms or tentacles are 



