The sun., 1899-07-16
WAYS OF THE DEVILFISH.
A Fourteen-Foot Octopus from Puget Sound
Furnishes the Text.
From tie ST. Lous Glob,. Democrat.

From TIE 81. Louis Giob,. Democrat
TACOMA. Wash. July 3.-The largest devil
fish caught in many years In Puget Sound was
captured this week by rock God fishermen at
the Narrows. near Tacoma. The monster
measures fourteen feet from tip to tip. having
eight arms over six feet long and body two
feet in diameter. The rock cod are caught in
water at least 300 feet deep. and 1t is in depths
like this that the devlnsh is usually found
Rock cod fishermen use set lines. to which
are attached several hundred hooks. fastened
three inches apart. and baited with herring.
The devnsh sometimes attach themselves to
the bait or the cod or salmon caught on the
hooks. II the devilnsh is above the bottom.
or il the bottom be sandy or gravely. he can
be- raised to the surface when the hooks are
pulled up II the bottom is rocky the devil
fish simply !asttcns himself to the rocks and
the hooks before he will release his
tentacles and come up 1t frequently hap
ner, When the fishermen raise. one to the sur
face great care must he taken that he does not
grab the bottom Of the boat. in which event he
might overturn a small boat or. to get rid OF
him. the boat must be taken ashore, and over
turned The suckers Of the deyilnsh are then
large spade which is showed beneath them
The suckers and. tentaces are fastened SO
those Of a rifle. This is the way the fshermen
The wonderful sucking power OF the devil
fish is better understood when it is realized
that each Mfh Of he eight en,ass or Is
size from three inches in diameter near the
mouth to the size of lead pencil point near
Of one Of these tentacles. nothing. whether 1t
be FISH or human being. is, ever, released
two and the octopus slashed to pieces, Even
four or five Of the eight arms can be cut
of and the monster win still live and thrive.
" an m m nd iS
two daughters were. out boating on the Mar
rows when all ugly devilflsh attacked the boat
ouslv pounded with the oars. which seemed to
increase his fury, He threw two OF his arms
around, the foot of one Of the young. ladies'
when she withdrew in Jnst in the nick Q, time,
Had the monster canght . her she would have
II devilfeh near one of the lower Sound Indian
fish had several OF his arms securely fastened
70 some larg" rocks With the othershe caught
s WIZ sIs for %s sI@S shs
drowned Two days later her body was found.
st in the "ntSheS s Of ,G The octopus i%d she
pieces and escaped.
The deyhshh is Of light pink flesh color
n,iGg out, from thr head, The mouth ia on the
ing arms. Inside the mouth Is n heak or bill.
shaped exactly like a pnrrots Everything
caught by the ttnthclHS lSrarrleu 10 the mouth.
JlSt as the elephant performs the same act with
his trunk Tn" stomach contains a crude
digestive apparatus The octopus has neither
flesh. blood nor bone but seems to he composed
OF gristlc. The eyes and small head are located
on the opposite sid" from the mouth. The only
Use TO which tn" octopus has been put so far is
to max food Orthe Puget Sound Indians The
Swashrs take off the outside skin and boil the
remaining mass Of grstle into a stew.
The arch enemies %. the octopus are the dog
fish and shark, His only means Of defence is
the black huid or ink which 10 Units when At
water all around and enables him TO escape
Three drops OF this fluid will impart an inky
hackness 10 "A large pal Of water A hfty four
mound lcytlsh caught several years ago had
quart of this fluid in the ink sack located near
its intestnes. The big dcvilnsh under notice
weighed ninety pounds and had nearly two
quarts pt h" fluid, As found in the ink sack
the fluid is much thicker than when thrown
out. II has been learned that the octopus di-
lutrs it by passing it through second sack
before throwing It out 70 hlq"k"n the water
this hlackened water for an instant