The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-13
WAYS OF THE DEVILFIsH.
Fourteen-FoOt Octopus From Pu-
get Sound Furnishes the Text.


get sound Furnishes the TEXT.
! From the st. Louis Gsobe- Democrat.
The largest devilhsh caught in manv
years in Puget sound was captured This
week by rock cod fishermen, at the Mar
rows, near Tacoma. The monster measured
fourteen feet from tip to tip, having eight
arms over SIX feet long and a body two
Ieet IN diameter. The rock cod are caught
IN water al least 300 feet deep. and il is in
depths like this that the devtlfsb is rs
ually found
ROCK COD fishermen use set lines. to
WHlch are attached several hundred hooks
fastened three inches apart. and baite5
with herring The devilhsh sometimes at
'aCh themselves to the bait or the cod or
Sdiiiioh caught on the hooks If the devil
IlsH Is ABOVE the bottom, or if the bottom
De sandy or gravely. he can be raised to
me surface when the hooks are pulled up.
II me bottom IS rock the deVilfsh slmDly
Iastens himself to the rocks and allows
hlmself to be cut TO pieces by the hooks
DeAoIe he VIII release his tentacles and
come up. 1t frequently happens that thew
are torn apart in this manner When the
fishermen raise one 10 the surface great
care must be 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 nm, the boat must be taken ashore and
overturned. The suckers of the devlhsh
are then released from the boat bv the
ueAlcrous use of a large spade, which is
showed beneath them. The suckers and Ten
lacles are fastened so tightly 10 the boat
as TO form vacuum, and their release is
ATTENDED by loud reports ike those of a
,IHe. ms IS the way the fishermen re-
leased the octopus recently caught.
The wonderful sucking power of the dew
xsyb.s ie.
lzed that each Of the eight tentacIes or
arms IS covered with 800 or more suckers
ranging in size from three inches in diam
eter near the mouth TO the size of a lead
pencil point near the ends. Once caught in
Inc powerful grasp of one of these tenta-
cies, nothing, whether it be fish or human
pelhg, IS ever released, unless the tentaclas
themselves be cut in two and the octo.nls
sIashed 10 pieces. Even four or five of the
| elSnt arms can be cut off and the mons
Ter VIII still live and thrive. Two summers
ago an Old gentleman and his TWO Gaugh-
tiers We're out boating on the Narrow9
When an ugly deVilfish attacked the boat
and attempted to overturn it. He vas zig
ofously pounded with oars, which seemed
10 increase his fury. He threw TWO of his
arms into the boat, and was winciug one
OF them around the foot of one of the
young ladies when she withdrew lust in
the nick Of time. Had the monster caught
her she would have been pulled oar OF the
! boat in jiffy.
number of years ago a squaw was
killed by devilfish near one of the lower
! sound Indian reservations. She was out
bathing, and a devilfsh had several of his
! arms securely fastened to some large
rocks. With the others he caught the I'M
/ suspecting squaw. The tide came in
| While she was struggling for life, and she
| was drowned. Two days later her body
! was found still in the clutches of the oc-
/ topus. Had she possessed a knife she
/ could nave sashed it to pieces and escap-
! ed.
The devifsh is of a light pink flesh
| co,or and has two bright green eyes. Its
! body is shaped like a spider, the eight
| tentacles radiating out from the head.
| The mouth is on the under side, exactly
| IN the center OF the radiatng arms In
| side the mouth is a beak or bill shaped
! exactly like parrots Everything caught
/ by the tentacles is carried to the mouth.
| Just as the elephant performs the same
! act with his trunk The stomach con-
tains crude digestive apparatus The
/ octopus is neither flesh blood nor bone
but seems to be composed of gristle. The
! eyes and small head are located on the
! opposite side from the mouth The only
| use to which the octopus has been put
! so far is to make food for the Puget sound
Indians. The Siwashes take off the out
! side skin and boil the remaining mass of
| grtstle into a stew.
The arch enemies of the octopus are
| the doSfish and shark. His only means
! of defense is the black fluid or ink which
! he emits when attacked or in danger.
| This fluid discolors the water all around
and enables him to escape. Three drops
of this fluid will impart an inky blackness
to a large pail of water. A fifty-four-
| pound devi!fsh caught several years ago
| had quart of this fluid in the ink sac
located near its intestines. The big devil
fish under notice weighed ninety pounds.
and had nearly two quarts of the fluid
AS found i'm the ink sac the fluid is much
thicker than when thrown out 1t has
been learned that the octopus dilutes it
by passing it through a second sac be-
fore throwing it out 10 blacken the water
and blind his enemies. No fish will re-
main in this blackened water for an in
slant.