Spying The Devil Fish

By Leo Gura - January 27, 2021

Back in 1680, Father Louis Hennepin, compared a Mississippi River paddlefish to a devil:

“The eagles, which are to be seen in abundance in these vast countries, will sometimes drop a breme, a large carp, or some other fish, as they are carrying them to their nests in their talons, to feed their young. One day we spied an otter, which was feeding on a great fish upon the bank of the river; which fish had upon its head a sort of beak about five inches broad, and a foot and half long. As soon as the Picard spied it, he cried out he saw the devil between the claws of the otter. This surprise was not so great, but that we made bold to feed heartily upon it. The flesh of it was good; and we named it the sturgeon with the long beak.”

Source #1: Moxostoma

Source #2: Google Books

And here is the devil they spied, in the flesh:

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