{{Short description|Sea monster in Caribbean folklore}} {{For-multi|the village in Ireland|Lusk, County Dublin|the village in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Romania|Năsăud}}
In Caribbean folklore, the '''Lusca''' is a name given to a mythological sea monster said to exist in the region of the blue holes nearby Andros, an island in The Bahamas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lusca |url=https://abookofcreatures.com/2020/06/15/lusca/ |website=A Book of Creatures |date=2020-06-15 |access-date=2021-06-19 |language=en}}</ref>
==Etymology== ''Lusca'' is a clipped form of ''Mollusca'' (a phylum containing octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and other cephalopods), referring to the creature's varied mollusk features, such as tentacles.
==Description== It is described as a giant octopus, a giant cuttlefish, or a half shark, half octopus.<ref name=":0" /> The lusca is said to grow over {{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}} long,<ref name=":0" /> but no cases have been proven of octopus species growing up to even half these lengths.
==In popular culture== The reports of a lusca monster attacking swimmers and divers was investigated by Jeremy Wade, the host of the television series ''River Monsters'', in the episode "Terror in Paradise" (season eight, episode four). After investigating reef sharks, tiger sharks, and the giant Pacific octopus, Wade settles on a large octopus being the most likely culprit for being the lusca monster.<ref>{{Citation |title=Jeremy May Have Found the Lusca Monster of the Blue Holes |publisher=River Monsters |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnWg7hM07Qg |access-date=2021-06-19 |language=en}}</ref>
A Caribbean film festival, Lusca Fantastic Film Fest, was named after this sea monster; the festival is an annual event held in Puerto Rico. It is the first and only international fantastic film festival in the Caribbean.<ref name="AboutUs">"[https://luscafilmfest.com/about/ About]". Lusca Film Fest Official Website.</ref>
The survival video game ''Stranded Deep'' features an enemy giant squid named Lusca the Great.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stranded Deep: 10 Tips for Fighting Lusca the Great |url=https://www.thegamer.com/stranded-deep-lusca-great-fight-tips/ |website=TheGamer |date=2021-05-23 |access-date=2021-06-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>
In episode 8 of series 15 of the detective show ''Death in Paradise'', a man obsessed with the creature is found dead in the ocean, his body bearing marks that look like he may have been bound up by its tentacles, although the cause of death is rather more mundane.
==See also== * Kraken
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Caribbean legendary creatures Category:Mythological aquatic creatures Category:Mythological cephalopods Category:Sea monsters