The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-28
OCEAN TRAPS.
Giant Mollusks of the Pacific That Some
times Catch Fish and Men.


Special correspondence to the New
York Sun from Pasadena, Cal, says:
An officer of the exploring ship Challen-
ger was one day being rowed along a
| reef in the South Pacific when a gar
| fish, long, slender, sharp nosed crea-
| ture, sprang from the water and struck
| him exactly in the front of his cap,
knocking it off. Such accidents, it was
! learned, were not uncommon among the
| natives
| In these waters are found some of the
| largest shells known. One is a clam
| like shell with huge ribs. called the
tridaena, one valve of which has been
| known to weigh $50 pounds. The meat
| alone weighed 20 or more pounds, and
| a single animal, if served on the half
! shell, would be a good meal for so men.
| 1t can be imagined that such mon
| ster must be extremely powerful, and
| that the muscle which holds it together
is of remarkable size. So solid are the
shells that they can almost cut mans
hand off, crushing the bones, and as
the tridaena has the habit of lying with
its valves partly open, as if to trap
some unwary traveller, it has earned an
unsavory reputation and is considered
| a creature to be avoided unless means
are at hand to make it harmless.
The attention of white men was first
attracted to this trap when a party of
collectors were rowing over the reef in
search of rare corals. They suddenly
saw some large fish beating the surface
violently with it's head out of the wa
ter. 1t was evidently caught by some
other fish, and, rowing in that direction,
the party witnessed an extraordinary
spectacle.
As they drew near they saw that the
| fish was a large shark which, caught
| by it's tail, was struggling violently to
ha Sl hh TOW
at this point being not more than four
| feet in Depth so the boat was rowed
| alongside the fish, about which a rope
was thrown. The shark made a vicious
struggle, Selling an oar in its ugly
| jaws and biting a piece out of it. but
finally the men held it securely and
| discovered the cause of its trouble.
The shark had been caught in a liv-
ing trap. Its tail, or the lower lobe,
was held securely by a giant shell, the
tridaena, the strong and powerful mol
! lusk clinging to it with vise-like
! grasp.
There is a case on record of a man
having been entrapped in similar
| way. He was an American collector,
unfamiliar with the reef and its strange
inhabitants, and seeing what he sup
| posed to be a great green sea anemOne
he attempted to grasp ii. But the ane-
none disappeared and like wise the
| edges of the shell Clamped the wrist
of the collector, who. to his horror,
found himself anchored in a stopping
position by his hand.
The tide was rising. not a person
| was in sight and there was apparent
| ly no possible chance Of escape The
| collector. fortunately. had a knife, and
| almost craZed by the pain he began
! an attack upon the shell, but every
| thrust he made only caused the pow
| erful animal to clasp him closer and
| add to his agony 1t was Impossible
| to cut around the shell, the rock be-
| ing too hard, and the only thing to do
was to wait and hope that the shell
would relax and permit him to jerk his
| hand out Seconds seemed minutes and
| minutes hours. The water was rising
| higher and higher; a gentle breeze had
| sprung up and waves began TO form
that threw the water against the cap
tive. He had about determined upon
a terrible alternative-to cut off his
| hand to save his 1ife-when the shell
relaxed its hold and with a quick jerk
| he pulled out the manned and help
| less member and turned in shore.