The Coolidge examiner., 1937-12-23

on the BODY surface are largely ar
ranged in groups. These are red,
purple, and orange. Ordinarily the
squid is flesh-colored, spotted with
pink. When swimming over a white,
sandy bottom, il suddenly fades to
a corresponding paleness, rendering
1t almost invisible. AS the crea-
ture rises through the water it be-
comes translucent. When irritated.
it bushes through pink, orange, red,
and purple. If alarmed, it suddenly
squirts out dense clouds of inky
fluid, forming a smoke screen" un-
der cover of which it beats a re-
treat. AS the inner horny shell rem
nant forming the skeleton" is
shaped like an old-fashioned quill
pen, and is so called, our friend the
squid is literary enough 10 possess
pen and ink!
The common squid Of our coast
vary from about eight to fourteen
inches in length. They prey on the
smaller food fishes, especially young
mackerel, swimming backward into
the schools and striking vigorously
right and left. They often get into
the fish pounds and create havoc
there. Thus they are a problem TO
the fisheries.
But there is a compensation, for
the fishermen catch and barrel
quantities Of them as bait for larger
fish. especially for cod. Bluefsh.
striped bass. and black bass are
very fond Of them and feed on them
when alive.
The largest of all of these mon
sters IS the giant squid. This larg-
est known invertebrate far exceeds
the great octopus Of the Pacific
coast in size and power The most
familiar of these gigantic mollusks
are the Architeuthis princeps and
Arch:!euthis harveyi of A. E. Yer
rill. This eminent naturalist has
recorded more than d score of in
stances in which these two species
were seen in the neighborhood of
the banks of Newfoundland, while
observations by Japetus Steenstrup
and others have been published.
Among the giant squid noted by
Verrill was a specimen which meas
ured 10 feet from tip of tail to
mouth, while the tentacular arms
were 40 feet in length, thus totaling
50 feet for this enormous denizen
of the ocean! Many Of the speci-
mems taken were stranded in shall
low water after storms; others were
captured by cod fishermen in the
open sea and cut up for bait.
Apparently the giant squid are in
habitants of deeper waters and have
come to the surface through acci-
dent
Sepia From Cuttleiish.
The common sepia, or cuttlefish,
of the Mediterranean is abundant
where it is sought for its rich brown
inky fluid, the India ink, or sepia.
familiar to artists The internal cal
careous shell, or pen" is an oval
structure often used in canary bird
cages as ''cuttlebone.
The broad, fiat body is striped like
a tiger, and it is indeed tiger Of
the seas, for it lies in wait. hidden
by the submerged eelgrass, swim
ming slowly forward, undulating the
ruffied fins that border its body on
both sides.
Suddenly it shoots backward, pro-
PEELED by the siphon in true squid
fashion, and, dodging quickly side
wise, seizes an unwary fish, dart
ing out a pair of tentacles ordi-
narily concealed within a sheath. The
unhappy victim is then grasped by
the shorter arms and devoured head
first, the cuttlefish preferring the
brain and fieshy part Of the back.
The creature often erects the first
pair of tentacles as it noses about
the submarine jungle Of water
plants. and then its aspect suggests
an odd sort OF double-trunkea ele-
phant. The outer arms have broad.
ruffied. and fanta stically mottled ex.
pansions, which spread out ike the
cowcatcher of a locomotive.
The eggs are LAD in bluish-biacE
grapelike clusters lasheG about the
stems Of eelgrass. gorgonians. or
various species of algae The am.
NAL often lies on the sea bottom,
with the broad outer arms out
stretched like a striped tent, ana
if the substratum IS sandy, the
changeable color scheme Of the
creature fades out 10 harmonic
with the sand, within which it par
TALLY buries itself. blending com.
pletely with the environment.