Birds and Nature Vol. 09 No. 5 [May 1901]: Illustrated by Color PhotographyVarious
History
Birds and Nature Vol. 09 No. 5 [May 1901]: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
Birds -- Periodicals; Natural history -- Periodicals
Another cephalopod closely related to the Octopus is the Squid, several
species of which are found on the Atlantic coast of the United States.
In this genus the body is long and cylindrical, ends in two fins, has a
prominent head terminating in eight short and two long arms and is
supported by a long, cartilaginous, internal pen, which is made up of a
central shaft with expansions on each side like a quill, hence the name
“pen.” These animals are very numerous in individuals and form a large
part of the food of fishes, like the blue-fish, black bass, etc., and
have even been found in the stomach of jelly-fishes. Besides being eaten
by the fish the squid furnishes a large part of the food of some whales,
the former occurring frequently in shoals and falling ready victims to
the huge monster.
In Norway and Sweden the people have a legend of a peculiar sea-monster,
called the Kraken, which was probably founded on some of the enormous
squids discovered during the past thirty years. Many of these mollusks
are found off the coasts of Norway, Scotland and Ireland, and not a few
have been recorded from the coasts of Nova Scotia and New England. In
the larger of these animals the body is eight or ten feet long, the
short arms eight feet and the long, tentacular arms thirty feet in
length, making in all an animal nearly forty feet long when fully
stretched out! The squid is greatly prized as bait and frequently a
royal battle will take place between one of these gigantic creatures and
a boat’s crew. Sad indeed is the fate of the latter if the mollusk once
gets a firm hold of the boat. Care is used, however, to guard against
such a result, and the animal is gradually deprived of its strength by
making a sudden dash, cutting off an arm and as quickly retreating.
These large squids are not as common as the smaller ones and they are
rarely captured.
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