The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-09-04
nFvILFISH, SHY AND
RETIRING, GOOD FOOD
s,rcED TENTACLES SERVED
' IN RESTAURANTS AS DELL
cIOIJS FRIED STEAKS.

CAN FRANCISCO, Cal-Devil-
: better known as "polypus octo-
D,D ~, bongkongesis," are being caught
pu1 Santa Cruz, California, like flies in
.roo and the tentacles are being
'h;ooed to fish markets in San Fran
' so New York and other cities,
co. ra thew are sliced and sold at
wnu WIZ "a to 90 cents a pound, accord
no' 20 E B. Florence, secretary of the
ny rIts[fornia State Fish Exchange here.
"a Florence says the sliced octopus
MI. t,r1o makes a succu1ent table deli
o c when properly Tried,
While fishermen emulate Victor
ungo and other writer's OF fiction by
llti;np of terrific battles with giant
l 4ta,;l6sb usually ending by explaining
Gou the fish reached one of its eight
nom NV above the water and wrapped it
and ny the boat, breaking the craft
a. TWO Mr.. Florence and Prof. Har-
ia Heath. department of zoology,
GU S.tarford university, California, state
tb hot this is physically impossible. Prof.
Wao+h describes the octopus as be-
;ng "of a shy and retiring DISPOSE
''0D' Not a Man Killer.
1.-THE devilhsh has no bones or no
,.rrctnre of any kind" says Mr.. Flor
s snce at cannot swim, but can only
sost on the water, or propel itself on
the floor of the ocean by means of
listening its suckers on a rock and
o,,ning itself along.
zach OF the eight tentacles are
covered with cup shaped suckers, and
these form a vacuum when fastened
On an object. Fishermen haul them
inf of the traps with their bare hands
and throw them in boxes in man
ner that is extremely undignified to
fish that has an age-old hctlonal
recitation OF being a man-killer and
boat-smasher."
In the picturesque food shops that
line the narrow streets of San Fran
ciscos colorful Chinatown the tenta-
cles of the deVilhsh may be seen hang
mo from hooks alongside many other
pdibles that are strange to the native
American. On the floors of the whole
sale fish houses here the devilhsh may
be seen stacked in jelly-like heaps,
with tentacles, in some cases, extend
inc ten feet across, five feet from each
side of the small, egg-shaped head
Caught in Wire Trap.
The traps at Santa Cruz, where the
majority of the devilhsh are caught
on the Pacific coast. are built like fly
traps, only much larger. The traps are
made of wire with Cone-Shaped en-
trance for the octopus to squeeze
through in order to reach the bait fix
ed for him. He has no trouble in en-
tering the ever narrowing funnel, but
finds it impossible to leave. Usually,
fishermen state, two or more are
caught in the same trap.
Instead of being fighter, the devil
fish protects itself from attack by
changing its color and hiding from its
enemy, according to Prof. Heath. He
says:
Can Change Their Color.
TO agility and naturally acute
senses should be added their surpris-
Ing ability to change their color to
harmonize with that of their sur
roundings, so that prey and enemies
alike are usually unaware OF their
proximity This color change is based
upon minute elastic sacs filled with
pigment and supplied with muscles
for causing their expansion.
CAS- a devilfsh crawls about on the
sea bottom its color can be seen to
change in twinkling from deep choc.
olate through dull red and to gray. 1T
sand or rock is encountered on the
journey the skin is usually thrown
into Jumps and ridges, SO that under
all conditions the body is practically
invisible"
However. if Prof.. Heath's opinion
OF the devihsh as a food is needed
the fish will continue to be eaten by
is celestial admirers and by limited
few who crave the unusual. Properly
to place before the American epicu-
rean dish OF tender octopus, Prof.
Heath says, something must be done
TO destroy It's rubber-like consisten-
C"