Of the rays, the huge devil-fish are most to be feared and divers
declare that they often attack men in the water. Armed with powerful
teeth these evil-looking creatures, with huge "horns" at either side of
their gaping jaws, are truly the vampires of the sea. Their great wings
cast ghost-like shadows in the depths where divers work.

As a rule the devil lurks on the bottom where it lies in wait for its
food. When moved by hunger, however, it will cruise about, its bat-like
body gently rising and failing as the queer looking wings cut the water.
These wings are powerful enough to raise the huge creature clear
of the water when attacked by sharks but it cannot be said to fly. When
hooked or harpooned it has been known to throw its unwieldy body
about on the surface until it crashed the small boat containing its would-
be captors. (8 p. 373)

More plentiful than the rays in South Florida waters is the
octopus a creature which belongs to a family called "poulpes." Ever
since it was immortalized in Victor Hugo's Toilers of the Sea, people
have looked upon the octopus with dread and horror. Other fiction
writers and artists depicted the repulsive octopus as a monstrous beast
with great arms capable of enfolding a ship and dragging it down to the
blackness of the ocean bottom. Adventurous tales, relating thrilling
encounters between divers and those slimy beasts,