This horn-tipped tail, lashing
about in the water, becomes a terrible weapon of defense.
Possibly it is used for offense, as the devil fish feeds on small
sea animals, sweeping them into its mouth by movements of the
horns mentioned. These horns, swirled about in the water, create
a sort of suction current, and on that the food fishes are borne
into the maw of the gigantic creature.
A whale rushes through a school of small sea animals with open
mouth, takes in a great quantity of water, and the fringe of
whalebone acts as a strainer, letting out the water and retaining
the food. In like manner the devil fish feeds, except that it has
no whalebone. Its "horns" help it to get a meal.
The "wing tips" of the devil fish have been spoken of. They are
not really wings, though when one of these fish breaks water and
shoots through the air, it appears to be flying. The wings are
merely fins, enormously enlarged, and these give the fish its
great size, rather than does the body itself. It is the whipping
spike-armed tail of the devil fish that is to be feared, aside
from the fact that the rush of a monster might swamp a small
boat.
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