Devil fish

“ When swimming, the devil-fish rests, so to speak, in its sheath. It swims with all its parts drawn close. It may be likened to a sleeve sewn up with a closed fist within. The protuberance, which is the head, pushes the water aside and advances with a vague undulatory movement. Its two eyes, though large, are indistinct, being of the colour of the water.
When in ambush, or seeking its prey, it retires into itself, grows smaller and condenses itself. It is then scarcely distinguishable in the submarine twilight. ”

“ Its tail is long and slim. As a rule they are confined to warm seas, but at least one species extends throughout the Atlantic and Pacific. [151]
The Devil-fish or Eagle Ray is a member of the family of Millstone Rays, so called because of their peculiar teeth, which are adapted to crush the shells of the mollusks on which they prey. The tail is long and slim. Some devil-fish occasionally measure from fifteen to eighteen feet across. Pearl and sponge divers greatly fear these ugly creatures.
The name devil-fish is also given to the Octopus and to the Goosefish or Angler. ”

“ The crab feeds on carrion, the devil-fish on crabs. The devil-fish seizes as it passes any swimming animal—an otter, a dog, a man if it can—sucks the blood, and leaves the body at the bottom of the water. The crabs are the spider-formed scavengers of the sea. Putrefying flesh attracts them; they crowd round it, devour the body, and are in their turn consumed by the devil-fish. Dead creatures disappear in the crab, the crab disappears in the pieuvre. ”

“ The devil fish, some specimens of which grow to the weight of a ton and measure fifteen feet from wing tip to wing tip, are armed with a long tail, terminating in a tough, horny substance, like many of the ray family members. ”

“ In the 'butter-fishes' or 'gunnels' which are found round our coasts, the eggs are rolled into a ball, and jealously nursed by the parents, each in turn coiling its body round the mass, and so protecting it from injury (see fig. 2) .
Many of those crafty 'hooligans' of the sea, the skates, are most affectionate as parents. One of the giants of the tribe, the great 'devil-fish,' will defend its young with great ferocity. Its capture is at all times attended with danger, but is especially perilous when it is accompanying its offspring; at such times it has been known to attack and upset a boat! ”

“ The antenna of the devil-fish cannot be cut; it is a leathery substance impossible to divide with the knife, it slips under the edge; its position in attack also is such that to cut it would be to wound the victim’s own flesh. ”

“ It has long, snaky tentacles that sweep the ground for many yards in every direction, for all the world like the long suckers of the devil-fish. It gobbles up anything that comes within its reach, insects, mice and larger animals. Once it gets its deadly grip on a victim, it keeps on tightening and tightening until it chokes the life out of it. ”

“ Of course, I know they occasionally get out of that sphere, but when they do they generally get gobbled up by some quicker thinking member of either the fish or the human family, so there’s really no credit to be gained by trying to pattern after an imitation devil-fish. ”

“ Sharks, rays, and devil-fish, tarpon and jewfish, redfish, snappers and groupers, Spanish mackerel and kingfish, sea-trout, bonito and cavallies, and lady-fish sergeant-fish, sheepshead and drum, a host of smaller fry—spots, grunts, and porgies, and the ever-present and ubiquitous catfish—can here be jerked, and yanked and snaked, and pulled and hauled, until the unfortunate angler will lament that he was ever born—under the last but not least of the zodiacal signs. ”

“ Even the fishermen regard a number of these creatures as of the devil, for some of the spines, gill covers, and skins are as venomous as an adder’s fangs; and the sea serpents, those brightly colored ribbons common enough among the waves, and all as deadly as cobras, cause a surprising number of deaths to those whose business is with fish net and traps. One morning in Macassar’s fish market there was a man who seemed to have supposed that the fish he had caught was too awful or too bulky to allow him to bring in more than the head, as a trophy. ”

“ The "sea-devil," or "angler" of our coasts, has on its head three long, very flexible, reddish filaments, while all round its head are fringed appendages, closely resembling fronds of sea-weed. The fish conceals itself at the bottom, in the sand or among sea-weed, and dangles the long filaments in front of its mouth. Other little fishes, taking them for worms, unsuspectingly approach, and themselves fall victims.
Several species of the same family live at great depths, and have very similar habits. A mere red filament would, however, be invisible in the dark, and therefore useless. ”

“ And though no one would give preference to any devil-fish, this long-snouted creature is the rival by an inverse ratio of that eight-snouted glutton. The octopus, the devil of the deep, is an insult to fishdom. The Moorish Idol and this Medusa-like monster in the same aquarium make a worse combination than Dr. ”

“ They would chase a deer from morning till night on this holy day, kill him, and then throw the carcass away; but week-days they lounge about some Puddleford dram-shop, while their families were suffering. Men, too," he continued, "fish on Sundays, because the devil has informed them that fish bite better. It is the devil himself who does the biting, not the fish; it is he who is fishing for you ”

“ This he does by sinking beneath some unfortunate porpoise or dolphin—perhaps even a shark or a whale—and striking violent lateral blows at its belly; not spearing it with the keen, clean thrust of the sword-fish, but ripping it from side to side. In this way it tears out the entrails of its victim, and then greedily devours them as they float in the water. A more horrible thing can hardly be imagined. There is only this to be said, that the creatures thus cruelly used are as cruel themselves in pursuing and devouring their own prey—or, at least, they are as cruel as they can be. ”

“ As he approached the ship, the struggle continuing and becoming more violent, it was perceived that a fish, apparently about twenty feet long, held him by the jaw, his contortions, spouting, and throes, all betokening the agony of the huge monster. The whale now threw himself at full length from the water with open mouth, his pursuer still hanging to the jaw, the blood issuing from the wound and dyeing the sea to a distance around; but all his flounderings were of no avail; his pertinacious enemy still maintained his hold, and was evidently getting the advantage of him. ”

“ The yellow devils not only menace them from the side; they come upon them from all directions. When they descend in crowds from their flight into the air, they grow stiff with terror on finding themselves face to face with great, amber eyes that seem starting out of their sockets to go greedily hunting on their own account. Then a mouth opens, shoots out a pair of concertina-like lips, and changes into a funnel; and the poor little fish disappear into a chasm, like threads into a vacuum cleaner. ”

“ The surfaces of the tentacles, and frequently of the stomach and body-walls, hold countless minute sacs containing beautifully coiled filaments, which are quickly thrown out like so many poisoned darts to pierce and paralyze the victim. The structure and action of these stinging threads is one of the greatest wonders of nature. The weak jelly-fish uses the same means to overpower its prey, which, enveloped and paralyzed by the hundreds of thread-like tentacles, is drawn upward into the digestive cavity. ”

“ Many people, including some scientists, believe that there exist in the sea to-day monster animals—sea-serpents, leviathans, and giant fishes—which have never been captured, and hence are unknown to zoölogists and have no place in scientific books, Whatever may be the facts in regard to such creatures, there are well-known members of the fish class which deserve to be regarded as monsters, and which may have given rise to the sea-serpent stories. ”

“ Well might the Paumotuan in his frail fishing-canoe dread the sea-devil! He had known him rise beneath his pirogue, and with a blow of his fearful fins shatter fisherman and craft. Not vicious in pursuit of man as the shark, or lithe and able to impale his victims as the swordfish, yet more terrible when aroused by the impotent Paumotuan, the “winged devil of the deep passes” stood for all that was perilous and awesome among the beasts of the ocean. ”

“ And he who says this in the Colloquies, adds that he hates fishes not otherwise than he does a serpent. Now, there are some so affected that fish is poison to them, just as there are found those who in like manner shrink from wine. If one who is thus affected with regard to fishes, should be forbidden to feed on flesh and milk-food, will he not be hardly treated? Is it possible that any man can desire him to be exposed to the pains of hell, if for the necessity of his body he should live on flesh? ”

“ Several poisonous fish are common near our coast. You may have seen the one called the Great Weaver, also its small cousin, the Sting Fish. The Weaver is dreaded by fishermen; for the spines on its back fin, as well as the one on its gill-cover, cause poisoned wounds. They are grooved, to hold a very poisonous slime.
Some fish have the power to kill their prey, and stun their enemies, at a distance! Instead of a spiny defence, they are armed with electricity! The best-known sea-fish of this sort is the Electric Ray, also called the Cramp Fish or Torpedo (see p. 48) . ”

“ We have already mentioned that some of the jelly-fishes possess the power of stinging. Only a few of the larger species, however, seem to be thus endowed; and the name sea-nettle is by no means applicable to the class as a whole. The poisonous fluid which produces the irritating effect on the skin, and no doubt paralyses the creatures upon which the jelly-fish feeds, is secreted by the arms. By means of its poison-bearing tentacles, the soft, gelatinous medusa is more than a match for the armed crustacean and the scale-clad fish. ”

“ Clouds of sea-birds fly screaming along the rocks, or sail round them on the tops of the waves seeking their prey; eels, garfish, shad, and every species of [Pg 105] cartiaginous fish which only lives upon flesh, such as long sharks, big skate, hammer-fish, octopuses armed with suckers, and every variety of dog-fish, swim about in shoals, occupied all the time in devouring the remains of the dead bodies which collect there. Nature also musters insects to hasten on the destruction. ”

“ The native fishermen, well acquainted with the dangerous nature of these fishes, carefully avoid handling them; but it often happens that persons wading with naked feet in the sea, step upon the fish, which generally lies hidden in the sand. One or more of the erected spines penetrate the skin, and the poison is injected into the wound by the pressure of the foot on the poison-bags. Death has not rarely been the result. ”

“ Others become poisonous by feeding on sea-centipedes—curious creatures which twine themselves round the coral, and resemble yards of black string with myriad tiny legs. There are certain fish which may be eaten with impunity on one isle, and are positively deadly if caught on other reefs. The natives themselves have sometimes died by rashly trusting to their experience of their own fishing-grounds, and so venturing to eat the identical fish caught elsewhere. ”

“ The animal adheres by a broad base firmly to the disk of the tangle, and awaits, as it waves hither and thither, the approach of one of the little fishes that play heedlessly at bo-peep among the fronds. No sooner does one of them touch the far-stretching tentacles, than a virulent and penetrating poison shoots through its frame; its vigour is benumbed in an instant; it ceases to struggle; its powerful fins strike the water no more; others of the fatal tentacles enwrap themselves around it, and drag it towards the mouth, already protruding and expanding in expectation of the morsel ”

“ THE WHALE-KILLER. This fish is one of the wonders of the mighty deep, well known to those engaged in whaling, and in the Pacific cruisers. It is thus described by one who has often witnessed its attacks on the whale.
“The killer is the wolf of the ocean, and hunts in packs, and their tall dorsal fin can be constantly seen above the water. This fish has always as a companion, but swimming deeper, the sword-fish, and now and then can be seen the shark. On sighting their prey, which the killer sees at a great distance, the pack gives chase. ”

“ When it goes out in search of food, it soars into the air, and floats in circles over the water, watching every inch of it as narrowly as a kestrel watches a stubble-field. No sooner does a fish rise toward the surface to take a fly, or to leap into the air for sport, than the Osprey darts downwards, grasps the fish in its talons, drags the struggling prey from the water, and with a scream of joy and triumph bears it away to shore, where it can be devoured at leisure.
The bird never dives, neither does it seize the fish with its beak like the kingfisher. ”

“ There are few better examples of predaceous, fish-eating fishes than the common gar-pike of our rivers, fishes with a slender body covered with very smooth scales, a strong tail, a short neck, and long jaws armed with numerous slender and sharp teeth. Such a fish, darting into a school of smaller fishes, by quick, sudden changes of movement, actively opening and closing its jaws, is sure to seize some of its sought-for prey. In a direct trial of speed with its victims it would most likely be worsted. ”