The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-18
forms which only rarely rise to ths sur

forms which only rarely rise to the sur face.
 The eeI-llke sharks found are In some instances luminouse emitting strange light oyer the entire surfaces-fhe light givers of the deep sea- 4 sr'ii sgo Ii The Ribbon Fish. . sa Another strange denizen of the deep is the so-called ribbon fish, several spec imens of which the writer has seen on the shores of Santa Catalina Island This all fishes. It resembles white or silver ribbon, slashed with black. A long m extends its entire length, and over tne pons of vivid red that in long speci- mems might easily be taken for a mane waving to and fro. That this deiicate ribbon fish attains a large size is gent erally believed, as large specimens have erinan was hapling a net on the coast some heavy weight was holding the net back Additional help was obtained. and a dozen men finally hauled in a mon ster fish. which was estimated to weigh 800 pounds. It was a gigantic ribbon fish, thirty feet or more in length, so long and heavy that it required the CT. forts of half a dozen men to carry it along the deck. It was veritable sea serpent, and extending rom its mead were tall deep red or scarlet plumenke fins, which form a sort of "mane," fre- auently described as being seen on the typical sea serpent. If these fishes at. tain length of thirty feet. there IS no reason why they may not exceed this, and it is very possible that some of the sea serpents" which have been ob- served at various times were gigantic ribbon fishes which came up from the deep sea- and moved along with undulat- ing motion at the surface.
 During the past year large specimen of this deep sea wonder washed ashore at Newport Beach, Cal. where 1t was destroyed by Mexican. ignorant or dts value. The fish, which was twenty-five or thirty feet in length, and estimated to weigh 800 pounds. was seen at nrst in the surf. presenting remarkable ap- pearance as its stlvery folds rolled oyer and over and flashed in the sunlight. me finder waded into the. surf and with much difficulty hauled the struggling rib- bon fish out upon the sands.
 How deep the ribbon fish lives in the sea is unknown, but 1t IS supposed to. come up front the very great depths where almost profound darkness reisns.'
 The Hideous SquId.
 ? One of the most remarkable as well as gigantic animals of the deep sea is the giant squid-a favorite tid-bit Of the sperm whale. The size to which these eous appearance. place them on par Tith many of the weird and grotesque creatures of a past age. The squid un- doubtedly attains a length of nearly, If
 
 taken from the stomach of whales which suggested animals far beyond this in size.
 No more hideous, creature can be imag- ined. The body is barrel-shaped, the tail like an arrowhead. the eyes as large as saucers. black and white. hypnotic and staring. The arms are attached to the head. and are ten in number, rom ten animals. while two are from thirty to fifty feet in length. depending upon the size of the individual. The short arms are provided with extraordinary suck CTS their entire length. The two long ones have them only at the extremities; and they form virtually pair of p4ncers which are shot out thirty or more feet like flash of light to seize unsuspect- ing prey, which is then hauled among the shorter arms and held powerless to escape The mouth Is small, but Is pro- vided with two large parrot.like peaks.
 This weird creature, WelghiI$ tons, with a power of changing its color like a chameleon, and in some species lum. inous. lives in deep fordlike bays and probably in the deeper regions or the ocean. as 1t is rarely seen except when wounded. A number of years ago an epidemic appears to have overtaken these animals; and numbers were found at the surface in Newfoundland waters, one' ffty-five feet in length, giving the man who discovered it a hard struggle. The hideous animal threw its arms over the boat holding on with vise-like strength, emitting clouds of ink which permeated the water in every direction. It was finally secured. towed in. and anchored in the surf, where it lay until the tide ebbed, tossing it's arms aloft, filling the water with ink-a terrifying spectacle.
 The capture of nearly all the giant sauids has been sensational The French man-of-war Aleetron sighted one some years ago lying upon the surface boat was lowered, but the captain was ioath to allow his men to attack h, fear ing that some one would be killed or injured by the flying arms or be hauled down into the water Finally. a harpcon was thrown into 1t and killed tt. When